Mara, the Rebel
by LynnisaMystery
Summary: Mara Jade defects during the time the Alliance is based on Hoth, and strives to become a Jedi Knight along with Luke Skywalker. Together, in more ways than one, they battle to defeat the Empire and restore peace to the Galaxy. L/M Spans through RotJ.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! Welcome to my all new fic, AKA, my summer project! **

**Little info before we kick off here. First of all, I have NEVER read the EU. Ever. Now, despite that fact. I happen to love Mara Jade's character, and really enjoy reading fics with her in it. I've read her wookiee on Wookieepedia, so I know about her, but for the sake of this story, if something is not quite AU to her character, let it slide. This is an AU. Things will change, occur sooner, differently, later, and not canon. **

**That said, I will be following some major events that happened in the OT. Not all of them, since as Mara's character is woven through the story, she'll alter and prevent certain events. **

**Now that that is out of the way, I'll give you the disclaimer, and we can go read this like the Star Wars Fans/Nerds we all are. **

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMER: I don't own this. That dude, Lucas, in Flannel owns the characters. I may just happen to own the AU part of this plot. <strong>

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><p><strong><span>Mara, the Rebel<span>**

**Chapter One**

"Why, hello, Commander Skywalker," Wedge called out sarcastically, putting his Sabacc cards down on the makeshift table of crates they had assembled. "So nice of you to grace us with your presence!"

"Can it, Wedge," Luke rolled his eyes, before pulling up a chair and sitting down a the table. "I've been in meetings all afternoon."

"Yeah, that's what you get for blowing up the Death Star," Wedge mocked and Wes chuckled from his seat next to Luke.

"Yeah, really," Luke rolled his eyes. "High Command wants to make a new Squadron separate from the Gold Squadron. Apparently I get my pick on who flies with me."

"So?" Hobbie asked, expectantly, grinning ear to ear. He leaned in. "Did we make it?"

"What kind of question is that?" Luke laughed. "What do you guys want to be called? It's us four and that new kid, Dak."

"How about, the Jansonettes?" Wes said, throwing his hands out in a gesture meant to present the words.

"How about, no?" Wedge shot him down. The four of them laughed.

"We need something that sets us apart from the others," Hobbie said, staring at the table, lost in thought. "Something... mysterious..."

"Yeah..." Wes said, giving Hobbie a sideways glance.

"He might be on to something," Wedge said, furrowing his brow. "I got it! Rogues! We're the Rogue Squadron!"

"I like that," Luke nodded, "let's go with that."

"We are the Rogues!" Wes laughed, raising his shot glass of Corellian brandy up in the air. Everyone followed, Luke holding up his empty glass since he'd just sat down.

…..

Mara Jade wandered into the dark and seedy bar to find her contact. She was risking a lot by doing this. Disobeying the Emperor? Let alone defecting? It was unheard of Hands defecting, let alone the Emperor's top Hand. Mara shook her head. She was defecting, get over it.

In the back of the bar, she spotted a pilot and a woman with a white cloak over her head. Immediately, she recognized the signal that the Alliance had given her to recognize the contact.

She slid into the chair across from the pair. "Coruscant – Zabrak – Nerf – Force – Republic," she said evenly.

"Dantooine – Jedi – Hutt – Shaak – Empire," the woman in white said, and lowered her hood. Mara let out a light gasp as she saw Princess Organa's face. It wasn't the first time she'd seen the Princess of the late Alderaan, but she truly didn't expect them to send a valuable member of the Alliance.

"I have to be sure you are sincere, Ms. Jade," Leia told her evenly. Leia's eyes spoke the seriousness of her words and what Mara was about to do.

"I am, Your Highness," Mara smiled. "You have yourself to thank for that."

"How so, might I ask?" Leia asked, a twitch of a smile at the corner of her lips.

"Alderaan was the final straw for me."

Though Leia didn't flinch, her eyes flashed the hurt that she felt. Alderaan was a sore scab on her heart even these three years later.

"Then I believe we have a Rebellion to get to," Leia said. Mara glanced at the pilot to the right of Leia, and noticed that the entire time they were talking, his hand never left his holster. Smart man. Too bad Mara was actually defecting, and this wasn't a ruse.

Leia returned the hood of her cloak to her head, and the three departed the bar and into the bright Kuat sunlight. They walked to the nearby docking bay, thankfully undetected, and boarded what Mara could only assume was the _Millennium Falcon_.

The pilot closed the ramp, and Mara looked around the main hold. It was a spacious freighter, as was usual of freighter ship designs, but the Force surrounding the hold was permeated with someone strong in the force. She was tempted to ask if they knew a Jedi, but the fact she would ask that question would be suspicious and would blow her cover as an average TIE pilot.

"Welcome to the _Falcon_," the Pilot grinned. Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Galaxy!"

Mara grinned. "Faster than a Super Star Destroyer?"

"No less," he chuckled. "I'm Han Solo. My Co-Pilot should be around here somewhere." He turned from her and called out. "Chewie!"

A growl was heard from the quarters of the ship and soon a Wookiee made himself present.

"Yeah, yeah, you can take a nap later," Han waved at him. "We need to get this thing in the sky."

The two headed off for the cockpit, leaving Mara alone with the Princess.

"Where _is_ the Rebellion located?" Mara asked. The princess threw her a sideways glance, and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry Ms. Jade, but I can't tell you that until we are there," she stated, and Mara nodded and smiled.

"Of course. I don't know why I would've thought you'd tell me," Mara let out a chuckle. "Oh, and, just call me Mara. Enough of this Ms. Jade stuff."

"As you wish," the Princess nodded. She took a seat over by the dejarek table, as the engines to the _Falcon _roared to life. "You may want to sit. Han may be a good pilot, but it'll still be a rocky take off."

Mara nodded and sat down at one of the navigation panels. Sure enough, a few seconds later, they shifted slightly and then took off, the ride bumpy the whole way out of the atmosphere. They made the jump to Hyperspace in silence, and then Han and his copilot came to the hold.

"Well, we're off Your Highness! Another safe trip!" Han grinned and took a seat next to the Princess at the Dejarek table. He threw his arms up around the back of the seat and relaxed.

"How long will it be until we make it to the base?" Mara asked, figuring that was a question that wouldn't break security measures.

"Eight hours, give or take," Han stated. Mara nodded, the assassin in her calculating ever area in the galaxy that could take eight hours. She figured the base was in the Outer Rim, but it must be in one of the less desirable systems. Of course.

"You were a TIE pilot, right?" Han asked, looking at her inquisitively.

Mara nodded automatically. That was her cover after all. "Why?"

"Well, one, because the Empire ain't really savvy to women outranking men. And two, I think the Kid might want to see how you do flying and may want to recruit you."

"The kid?"

"Luke Skywalker," The Princess stated. Mara's jaw dropped.

"The guy that blew up the Death Star?" she asked, surprised. "Man, does Vader have it in for him."

The words left her mouth before she could think about them. A TIE fighter wouldn't know about the more private missions the Dark Lord went on. A flicker of something (suspicion?) crossed Princess Leia's face, before being quickly masked.

"Yeah, that's him," Han grinned, either oblivious to her slip, or just better at masking it than the Princess.

"Wow," Mara nodded, smiling. She had to make her cover back up, and fast. If the Princess didn't trust her, she might end up arriving at the Rebel base in Binders...

Hoth base was alive with activity. Princess Leia was due back today with yet another defected Imperial. Since the Battle of Yavin IV almost three years ago, the Rebellion's ranks have nearly doubled. They were still incredibly smaller than the Empire, but the more they had, the less the Empire did. Anything was good.

General Rieekan stood in the Command Center, going over his daily duties, caffe in hand, and data pad in the other. He'd received a conformation pick up message from Princess Leia late last night, and she was due back in an hour. He reread the stats on the new recruit, noting her young age and yet her incredible status in the Empire. A little too incredible, but if the Empire was good at anything, their non-clone pilots were some of them. Yet her gender seemed the biggest thing off to him. He was not being sexist in the slightest, Force no. Some of the founding members of the Alliance were female, and were still some of the strongest in their ranks.

But the Empire was bias to women, let alone female pilots. And this Mara Jade was listed as top in her class and a lieutenant with several honors. His paranoid side could not ignore the chance that these were dummy records. He'd be keeping a watch on Ms. Jade.

"General!" a voice called, and Rieekand looked over at Commander Skywalker entering the center. He approached the general with his usual bright eyed smile and happy body language.

"What can I do for you, Skywalker?" Rieekand smiled.

"Any word on Leia and Han? Did they get the recruit?"

"As a matter of fact, they were successful, and will be returning within the hour save for mechanical error."

Luke laughed. "Can never trust the _Falcon_, right?"

"No, you really can't," Rieekand chuckled. "I believe this recruit may be suitable for your squadron, actually."

"Really? How good is he?" Luke asked, leaning in to see Rieekand's outstretched Data pad

"She."

Luke glanced up in surprise. "Empire and a female pilot?"

"It startled us all," Rieekand admitted. "But if she made it as a TIE pilot then she must be good."

"I hope so," Luke nodded. He glanced down at the picture of a red haired woman with brilliant green eyes and a stoic face looking back up at him. Her hair was neatly pulled back into a pony-tail and draped over the shoulder of her pilot's uniform. A cap topped her head and her insignia displayed many honors. "Wow, look at these achievements!"

"Yes," Rieekand agreed. "That's why I'm recommending her for the Rogues, instead of the Gold Squadron. It's no secret that your Squadron has the best pilots of the Alliance."

"Thank you, sir," Luke smiled up at the General.

"It's the truth, Skywalker," he smiled, placing a hand on Luke's shoulder.

An alarm sounded over in the flight control station, and Rieekand looked over. "That's probably them now, actually." He headed over to the station, and Luke followed.

"_Echo Base, this is the Falcon, requesting clearance to land," _Han's voice sounded over the comm.

"Echo Base to Falcon, landing clearance granted," the tech replied, clearing the codes and and alerting the Deck Officer via comm message.

"I'll go down to great them, General," Luke said, grinning. Rieekand nodded, and Luke bounded out of the Command Center and to the Hanger where the Falcon began to land.

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><p><strong>REVIEW! I can't stress that enough!<strong>

**This story will stretch through RotJ as I see it right now. I have a TON of exciting scenes played out in my head that I want to do for ESB arc. Everything from Luke vs. the Wampa to the Med Bay Scene to Dagobah and Bespin! I can't wait to write them up.**

**For now though, we still are in the beginning stage, and will be for a few more chapters before we even TOUCH ESB. **

**And for those that are doubting things, as I'm sure you are, Mara IS actually defecting. She's not a double agent, and is going to be facing some consequences as the Emperor finds out. What they are, you can worry your head over until we get there. **

**Don't for get, REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Le Gasp! Is it? Could it be? An update with a semi-regular hope for future updates!**

**By Force it is! However did that happen?**

**Well, I'll tell you! I got some amazing reviews for last chapter, including an error pointed out to me that is now fixed! Thanks again Mason13! **

**As for posting schedules, I'm not promising anything in the slightest, but my hope is to get it up every few days. I'm working on this alot lately, and I'm going to abuse my current Muse while it's sticking around. I've already got alot of this planned out in my head and most of it outlined on virtual paper, AKA Open Office. I'm too cheap to but another copy of Word!**

**Now, I'm definitely encouraging you to go through and point out any other time issues, plot issues, or out of character issues again. I really am striving to improve the quality of my work, so anything you can do is a big help. Thanks!**

**DISCLAIMER: Though owning Star Wars would be, like, uber cool, I unfortunately do not. If I did, I think I might omit one or two scenes here and there *COUGH* Jedi Rocks *COUGH* To continue, I own nothing but this AU storyline. Mara and Luke are Lucas's, and so is Han and Leia and the Rogues. Though, if you're selling Wedge... *cough***

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

The Falcon landed in the Hangar bay of Echo base with a slight jolt, startling Mara slightly.

_Hunk of Junk was right, _she thought idly. She felt the engines turn off and stood up. Princess Leia stood as well, grabbing her bag and heading towards the ramp. When they'd awoken this morning, Mara was informed that she'd need the parka they'd provided, as well as the thermals. Everyone aboard the ship, save the wookiee, Chewie as she learned his name was, changed and prepared for cold climate.

"Where are we?" she asked again, figuring she'd be allowed to know since she was stuck in the base now.

"Mara Jade," Princess Leia smiled slightly. "Welcome to Hoth."

The Princess lowered the ramp following her proclamation and an icy blast greeted her. A shiver ran down her spine at the abrupt change in temperature. She smiled at the Princess before following her down the ramp.

"Luke!" The princess called out, grinning, She jogged over and hugged the man waiting at the base of the ramp.

"Hey, Leia," he said, hugging her back. "Enjoy your time somewhere warm?"

The Princess laughed, and swatted at Luke's shoulder. "C'mon Luke, don't tell me you're bitter over it. You need to be here anyways to keep Wes from getting a Sexual Harassment claim and to keep Hobbie out of the Med Bay."

Luke laughed loudly.

"Hiya, kid!" Han called from behind Mara. She turned and watched Han descend the ramp and walk over to Luke before slapping him on the shoulder a few times.

"Hey, Han," Luke grinned. Finally, he turned his attention to her. "Hi, I'm Luke Skywalker. Welcome to Hell."

She grinned and nodded. "Mara Jade. Somewhat glad to be here. Though why you rebels couldn't hide in the desert is beyond me."

"Tatooine has too many bounty hunters," Luke joked before walking a step towards her. "Anyways, I hear you're a pretty good pilot. I'd like to fly with you to see your skills and then maybe you can have a position with the Rogue Squadron. We need good pilots like your file says you are."

Mara's eyes widened. "Wow, you guys sure aren't like the Empire with your sexism."

"C'mon, would Leia be our fearless leader if that were the case?" Luke grinned crookedly, before glancing over his shoulder at Leia, who rolled her eyes in return.

"I suppose not," Mara grinned. "I hate to be a bother, but where can I dump my stuff?"

"I'll show you to your quarters," Luke said, before turning and heading off across the hangar. Mara followed, glancing back once at Princess Leia and Han. They were staring at her intently, and Mara figured they were probably seeing if she was a threat.

Luke led her through the icy corridors before stopping in front a door. He palmed it open, revealing a barren bed with only a few sheets folded at the foot of it and some thermal blankets folded up at the foot of the bed. There was a waterproof closet, and a space heater that kept the room above zero.

"Not much, but it's got a locking door and and a bed," Luke shrugged.

"It's fine," she smiled shyly. "I wasn't expecting a four-star suite."

"Okay then, well, the mess hall serves food pretty much all the time the blast doors are open, and see Leia about your duties. Almost everyone rides a TaunTaun on patrol sometime within a month."

"TaunTaun?"

"Horrendous creatures," Luke said, wrinkling his nose. "But until we can fix the icing problem with the speeders, we're stuck with them."

She nodded, barely following. "Um, when do you want to see my piloting skills?"

"It's a little late in the day to be going out on patrols, but I can still show you the X-Wing you'll be assigned regardless of what squadron you're in," he said.

"Let's do that, then," she grinned. Luke smiled back widely, his eyes almost sparkling with enthusiasm.

"Back to the Hangar then," he said, gesturing back down the hall.

"Here she is!" Luke announced, proudly displaying the X-Wing they deemed hers.

"It's in good condition," she noted, running her hand along the hull. "Who maintains it?"

"I do, actually, but now you do," he grinned.

"You're a mechanic?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him while she continued to examine the ship.

"All my life," he said simply. "Nothing better to do on Tatooine."

"Ah, you're a farmboy, aren't you?" she smirked.

"Technically, but I hated moisture farming."

"Well, once a farmboy, always a farmboy,"she teased. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Now is that anyway to treat your possible new Commander?" he jabbed back.

"You're a Commander?"

"Yeah, of the Rogues," he said. "Which is why I'm the one that wants to see you're flying."

Mara shook her head. All her thoughts were jumbled as soon as she entered the base. This was entirely new territory for her. She wasn't used to it all.

"Wow, I don't know why I didn't make the connection sooner," she mumbled.

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. They stood in silence as Mara continued examining the outside of the X-Wing, getting to know her ship. At least, that was until Wes Janson decided to test his fate with Mara.

"Hey, Luke, is this the new recruit?" he asked, grinning as Mara walked back towards the side of the X-Wing Luke was on.

"Yeah, Wes, meet Mara Jade. Mara, Wes Janson," Luke introduced, gritting his teeth slightly. He couldn't explain it, but something in the idea of Wes even thinking about Mara set him on edge. He didn't know why.

"Ms. Jade," Wes greeted, reaching to take her hand to kiss it. Mara narrowed her eyes though at the blatant flirting and just stared at him slightly bent and reaching for a hand that was now on her crossed arms.

"Mr. Janson? I believe that at this moment, we do not know each other well enough, and until we do, I must ask you to please refrain from blatantly hitting on me. I may be new here, but there are a lot of men in the Empire that pull stunts far worse than you. I can assure you, I am well versed in weapons training, as well as hand to hand combat, and I could take you down faster than you could say Rebellion."

Wes stood staring blankly at Mara. Sure, people shot him down all the time, but never as quickly as Mara had. Or so roughly.

Luke, on the other hand, was having a hard time disguising his snickers as coughing. Mara glanced in his directing and cracked a small smile.

"Well, um," Wes stuttered. "I'll be, uh, seeing you around, uh, Jade, I mean Mara, I mean Ms. Jade."

Wes took off, walking quickly in the direction of the mess hall. Mara looked back at Luke and burst out laughing. The two stood there, laughing harder than they had in a long, long time. It was a glorious feeling to Mara. Being an Emperor Hand, she was subjected to a life of bleak coldness and death. There were few things that made her feel whole again.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone turn him down that forcefully or quickly!" Luke laughed, wiping his eye slightly from where it'd teared up from laughing so hard.

"Did you see his face?" Mara asked, in between bouts of laughter. "I mean, oh Force that was a hilarious look on his face!"

"You are quickly becoming one of my favorite people here, I swear!" he said, catching his breath and grinning at her. "Just beware, there are three other Rogues to look out for."

"Great," she rolled her eyes. "I wasn't coming to the rebellion to increase my love life. Though how much of a love life can you have on this ice cube?"

"Not much. I suppose those that get some get it in the ships," Luke shrugged. "Wouldn't know."

"Oh, please," Mara scoffed. "Are you just saying that you haven't gotten some in the rebellion or just this base?"

"No one's caught my eye," Luke shrugged, grinning shyly at her. Mara's smile turned from teasing to a warmer, genuine smile.

"What about the princess? I saw how she greeted you."

"Leia?" Luke asked, eyes wide. Then he laughed. "No, at one time, I thought I had had a crush on her, but no. She's too much like a sister to me now. We're best friends."

"Oh, well, I'd give you more names, but she's the only one I've met," Mara shrugged. A small thought drifted across her mind that she should give Luke her own name, but she squashed that thought quickly. It wouldn't be very proper to date her future Commander. No, she would squash any feelings she had for Luke. But she had none, of course. No problem!

"No, I think I'm perfectly content where I am right now," Luke smiled at her, and she returned the smile before he continued. "Shall we go find something to eat?"

"Lead the way," she said, and followed him across the hangar.

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><p>That night, Mara quietly entered her room, and then set up the lock to allow only her hand print to enter. After her security was in place, she turned to her small duffel bag. She didn't exactly have much in the way of winter gear, but Princess Leia had assured her the Alliance could issue her clothes. Being roughly the same size as the Alderannian Princess, she was lucky they had a decent stock in her small size. She was slightly taller than the Princess, but not by much.<p>

Mara sighed and pulled the drawstring and dumped the bag upside down on her bed. Her black cat suits and various holsters and vibroblades fell upon the bed. Her lightsaber landed on top of the heap and rolled off the bed, clanking loudly on the ice floor.

"Sith!" she cursed, before quickly retrieving the cylindrical object. She examined the casing, noting that it had survived the short fall with out a dent, before flicking the switch and igniting the blade. The red blade hummed to life and she frowned.

Palpatine's blade was red. So was Vader's. Wasn't that the thing she was running from? The sith oppression? How could she ever escape when her favorite weapon was a constant reminder.

_Make a new one_.

Mara frowned at the thought. Where ever would she find a crystal for her saber if she was stuck on Hoth until the Empire found them? She wouldn't, so she was stuck for awhile longer until she could retrieve a new crystal.

She deactivated the blade before turning to the closet. She opened the door and saw an array of snowsuits in the cremes and off-whites that the Alliance wore here, and a small data-pad sitting at the bottom of the closet next to the snow boots. She clicked the screen to activate it, and grinned at the message.

_**Leia told me you didn't have any clothes, so I rounded up a few for you. There's a weeks supply save grease stains while you fix up you ship. But there's also a flight suit in the drawer below for once we hit the skies. And don't forget to set your security. I didn't even need my droid to break into here. Take care, Mara.**_

_**-Luke**_

Mara grinned and wiped a stray tear from her eyes at the note. No one had ever cared enough to not only make sure she had clothes, but to also stock her closet for her. Palpatine had always just sent off an aide to make sure she had what she needed.

And no one had ever cared about her safety before either. Ever.

Luke Skywalker was worming a very nice spot next to her heart, and she couldn't decide whether she like it or not.

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><p><strong>There you have it! Some of this was incredibly hard to write. I'm trying to get across that they may be attracted to each other, but are taking things slow. Especially Mara. She's in denial right now and will be for awhile.<strong>

**I've started chapter three already, but I'm kinda iffy on how it's turning out. I've written alot of it under the influence of exhaustion, so I might be going back to rewrite somethings. **

**Also, I've officially started to read the EU. I caved. I was in B & N today and my sister and I tried to figure out all the books. We pretty much know what happens thanks to Wookieepedia, but still. Also, there are barely any of the earlier Mara books there. We don't even have the Thrawn Trilogy there. We did however, buy out the Han Solo Trilogy. I happen to be reading numero uno right now in that. But my crazy sister is starting with _Sacrifice_. Which is Mara's last book. Yeah, D, I still think you're nuts. **

**But, I digress. **

_**Chapter Three: Suspicions arise, Mara makes a mistake, Wedge tries his hand at wooing her, and Luke finds out just how good a pilot this former Hand is!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except the AU portion of this fic. If I claim any of these characters, then you have the freedom to yell at me. Until then, I must find the six fingered man that killed my father.**

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><p><strong>Here it is! Chapter 3! <strong>

**So I am officially on Summer Break this morning, and I cannot describe how good it feels to sleep in while the weather is warm and not sweltering here in Southern California. Come July, you guys will be hearing about how horrible 110 degree temperatures are. Until then, I'm enjoying this. **

**Yesterday, I wrote all of chapter four as well as most of chapter five, and it seems that the chapters are getting longer for each I write. And I'm not combining chapters either to make them that way. This is still progressing at the original intended rate. Go figure. **

**The flight scene was insanely fun to write. I took a few liberties with the Simulation setting on the X-Wings, which I think is a borrowed idea from a different fanfic that briefly mentions something similar. I don't really remember the specifics, so I've kinda just run with the idea. Also, the navi-computers with the name listing thing (you'll understand as you read) is completely mine. I've never read a fanfic that has mentioned something like that, so if there is, it's purely coincidence. **

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><p><strong>Rogue Leader: Luke <strong>

**Rogue One: Dak**

**Rogue Two: Wes**

**Rogue Three: Wedge**

**Rogue Four: Hobbie**

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><p><strong>In the Battle of Hoth scene of ESB, Wedge is reffered to as Rogue Three. In my head, he's pretty much Second in Command, and I really don't understand the call sign numbering system. Is it like music, and first chair is the best? I don't know, but I doubt it since Wedge flew both Death Star runs. So for this fic's sake, the numbers mean nothing more than a call sign. <strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The next day, Mara awoke early to her incessant chrono going off. She groaned, tossing back the covers, before immediately shivering. The covers were quite warm with body heat, and the Hoth Base most certainly was not. Touching the Force lightly to create a bubble of warmth around her, she slipped into some thermal slippers until she put her shoes on.

She opened her closet yet again, and smiled at the array of snowsuits. Though she'd prefer a darker color, beggars couldn't be choosers. Luke had really stocked her closet well, and she'd have to thank him for the clothes when she saw him.

She changed out of the thermals she'd slept in, before donning a new pair, and then slipping the snowsuit over that. She grabbed the darkest vest she could spot, and pulled that on. It was merely a Khaki vest, but it was darker than the white snowsuit.

Mara glanced at the mirror in the closet and grimaced. She'd completely ignored her hair, and her red tendrils were draped everywhere around her face. She glanced around her room for her brush and spotted it on the nightstand.

She reached her hand out and called for the brush as it quickly flew up. She caught it and began brushing her hair, before braiding it in two braids and pinning them in circles around the back of her head, just behind her ears.

Glancing in the mirror once more, she nodded to herself and closed the closet door. She checked her pockets for weapons out of habit and wondered as to whether or not she should be packing. Theoretically she shouldn't need to, but then again, it couldn't hurt her. She slid open a drawer in her nightstand and grabbed two folded vibroblades and tucked them in the pockets on either thigh.

Feeling content that she was ready, she stepped out and into the hallway, headed for the mess hall.

"Luke, hey, Luke!" Wedge called out, trying to snap his Commander and best friend out of his reverie. Luke shook his head and glanced at Wedge.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Geeze, what's gotten into you this morning?" Wedge asked, sitting down at the mess hall table across from Luke.

"Someone used the Force just now," Luke said, furrowing his brow.

"You mean, like that thing you can do?" Wedge asked, eyes wide. "I thought only Jedi could do that!"

"I'm not a Jedi yet, Wedge, so no, people other than Jedi can use it."

"Who was it?" Wedge asked, his voice dipping into a conspiratorial whisper.

"I don't know, but someone who knew what they were doing," Luke said, lost in thought. "I don't know who-"

He broke off and glanced up as Mara entered the mess hall.

Wedge followed his line of sight, and grinned. "She's the new recruit, right? The one that has Rogue potential?"

"Um, yeah," Luke said, shaking his head. Wedge completely missed his sudden line of thought.

_Mara couldn't... No. She would have been snatched up by the Empire so quickly if she were Force Sensitive. Vader scans everyone at the Academy. That's why Uncle Owen was so terrified of me going. I think. Either that or he really did need help with the next Harvest. But Mara..._

Luke shook his head and grinned as Mara approached. She sat down next to Wedge on the bench, much to Wedge's delight.

"Hi, Luke, thanks for the clothes," she smiled before turning to Wedge. "Hi, I'm Mara Jade."

She reached her hand out to shake his and he took it, bringing it to his lips. Mara groaned internally.

"Why, hello, Ms. Jade," Wedge said smoothly.

"Force, what is with you Rogues?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"What do you mean?" he asked hesitantly, throwing a sideways glance at Luke. Luke grinned down at the table.

"First Janson, now you! I don't even know your name and you're already intending to hit on me!"

"How did you know I-?"

"Luke, when are we hitting the skies? I could do to out fly these punks," she said angrily, leaning in slightly towards Luke. His eyes widened at her forwardness but replied nonetheless.

"Um, we hit the skies at 0800."

"Good," Mara nodded. "Excuse me, I have to find myself some breakfast and an Artoo Unit. Thank you once again, Luke."

She stood up abruptly and headed towards the food line. Wedge gaped after her, before turning on Luke.

"What in the nine Corellian Hells was that?" he blurted out. "I barely said two words to her before she assumed I was flirting!"

"Oh, please, Wedge," Luke laughed, rolling his eyes. "Your intentions were radiating off you in waves."

"Yeah, to you! Cause you have your Force thing!"

"Well, maybe your body language shouldn't be so obvious either," Luke covered, wondering if Mara was the Force user he'd sensed earlier.

"Yeah, well, make sure I'm there when Hobbie meets her."

"Will do," Luke laughed.

"Mara!" Leia called out, and Mara turned in the food line and grinned at the approaching Princess.

"Hello, Your Highness," she greeted cordially.

"Hello, I was wondering when you could stop by to review your base duties?" Leia asked. "I've already talked with Luke and he's informed me of your piloting test this morning, but I wanted to know if you were available afterward?"

"Of course! Would you like me to comm you when I'm done with the flying, or send a smoke signal, or what?" Mara said, grinning. Leia cracked a small grin as well.

"Calling my Comm would be fine."

"Great!" Mara grinned. Leia nodded, and left the mess hall after waving to Luke once. Mara picked up a tray and and got her breakfast before returning to sit next to Luke. Lucky for her, Wedge had gone off somewhere in her absence.

"Hey, Mara," Luke greeted again. Mara grinned and took a bite of her food. It was warm, but... off.

"See you've come into acquaintance with our rations," he teased her and Mara nodded.

"Unfortunately," she said, pushing the tray away. "That's horrible."

"Yeah, dinner is long ways away and it's rations until then or the next food shipment," Luke smiled, pushing the tray back to her.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Luke laughed and stood up. "Eat up, Jade, cause 0800 is coming fast!"

She nodded and watched as Luke departed the mess hall, leaving her alone to her thoughts, yet again.

The X-Wings took out of the Hangar bay one after the other, out to run their patrols and practice their runs. Mara took up the tail end of the X-Wings, following their maneuvers. She was intent to show Luke just how good a pilot she was.

"_Skies seem clear, Rogue Leader,"_ Wedge's voice came over the comm. _"What's our next move?"_

"_Let's do the basic falling pattern, Rogue Three,"_ Luke answered. _"Mara, followed our movements."_

"_Sure thing,"_ She answered back. The X-Wings followed through, turning and banking back towards Hoth one after another, before pulling up just outside of the atmosphere and returning to course. _"This all you Rogues do all day? Kinda boring."_

Janson's laugh came out over the comm channel. _"You really think that's all we do, Jade? Hey, Luke, we should run practice fights!"_

"_Copy that, Rogue Two," _Luke called over. _"Okay, let's run battle sequence. Rogue One, Two and Four, you take Empire. Mara, you'll team with me and Rogue Three on Rebellion. Everyone set your firing to SIMULATION and we'll run this."_

"_Hey, Luke, how do you know Jade is even a good enough partner to keep us off your guys' tails?" _Hobbie asked.

"_Regardless of her skill, I can hold my own in a fight," _Luke shot back.

"_Your tail, Commander!" _Hobbie teased, before they broke off. _"Alright, Empire, take channel one! Rebels, you got Channel Two?"_

"_We do indeed," _Luke called back. _"Maintain Radio Silence between two teams until I break it or someone catches a whiff of the Real Empire."_

"_Copy, switching channels now,"_ Hobbie called back, and Wes and Dak repeated it as well to announce their switch. The two sets of ships pulled apart and headed in opposite directions before looping over in a flip and heading back towards each other.

"_How're you doing, Mara?" _Luke called out, making Mara crack a grin.

"_Great! I missed flying! Let's get these suckers," _she answered, pushing down on the thruster and inching her ship ahead of Luke's.

"_Aim for the engines in the back," _Luke told her. _"That'll slow 'em down or blow 'em to space dust in a real fight. I'm sure you're aware of how to take down a TIE?"_

"_Well aware," _Mara smirked. _"Is it okay if I go after Janson? I have a minor score to settle."_

"_He's all yours," _Luke laughed. _"Wedge, take Dak, I'll take Hobbie. We'll do a basic chase sequence before following into a cover and attack formation."_

"_Copy that,"_ Wedge replied.

"_Mara, when I give the signal, Wedge and I will pull away from Hobbie and Dak. You will fall back from Wes, and cover my right while I take out Wes, unless you get a hit on him first."_

"_Gotcha," _she stated, and hit the thruster hard, throwing her ship much farther in front of Luke and Wedge's. She flew up and over Wes, spinning and turning back around, right on his tail. She opened herself to the Force and grinned at the certainty and power that filled her. She refused to touch the Dark Side, and the rush the Light Side gave her was exhilarating. She tipped the X Wing up, before pulling down and firing down upon Wes at a forty-five degree angle. She landed a hit upon his engine immediately, and her computer screen registered that Wes was now unable to fire upon people himself since that shot would have sent him spiraling planet side if it were real.

"_Nice shot, Mara! I've got Dak on my tail, help Wedge out while I chase Hobbie," _Luke called out, and Mara broke off her following of Wes and joined up alongside Wedge. Wedge fired off several shots towards Hobbie, but Hobbie was a fairly skilled pilot despite his constant landing in the Med Bay. Mara fired off a few shots as well, but Hobbie evaded them too, and instead suddenly tipped his wing downwards sharply, and spun around behind them.

Mara pulled back on the thrusters immediately, sensing Hobbie's position with the Force, and allowing him to pull back up between her and Wedge. She fired off two shots before he could get his barrings on her new position, and clipped his wing. At that moment, Dak's ship disappeared from the screen as active, having been shot down by Wedge. Dak pulled away off to fly circles with Wes until Radio Silence was lifted.

Hobbie fired furiously at Wedge, and Wedge had to duck around a few times to avoid some fatal shots. Luke banked around them and pulled up alongside Mara, firing off another shot that clipped Hobbie's wing. They couldn't quite get the shot that would put him out of commission, but they were close.

"_Sith!"_ Wedge yelled out over the comm. His ship disappeared from her computer and listed him as a casualty under Wes and Dak.

"_Alright, Wedge, go fly circles with Wes and Dak," _Luke told him. _"We'll take out Hobbie and return to base."_

"_Copy that," _Wedge called out and pulled away from the fight. Mara grew frustrated again as Hobbie kept dodging shots. Now they were down a man. She opened herself further to the Force and felt the light tingle through her limbs, guiding her actions.

Luke felt a ripple through the Force again, the same signature as earlier. He glanced at Mara's X-Wing and felt almost positive that she was the one touching the Force. She had to be doing it consciously if she was emitting such a strong wave of power. Luke furrowed his brow and turned back to the fight.

At that moment, Hobbie dipped down and spun around. Luke banked down too late, and now Hobbie was behind him once more. He looked at the positioning screen and saw that Mara was now flying just behind Hobbie.

Luke felt his ship shudder as Hobbie hit his right wing. Artoo shrilled loudly in panic. "Yeah, yeah, Artoo, let's just keep in this fight."

Artoo blew an electronic raspberry at him and Luke dodged a few more bolts.

Mara slowed down some and slipped behind Hobbie again, focusing on his engine. "Desix, lock onto his engine," she called out to the Artoo Unit designated to her. Her droid beeped in response and calculated the computer to aim for Hobbie's engine. She kept herself open to the Force, needing to lock onto Hobbie's ship and take him out before he could take Luke out. Her computer locked down, and she fired several shots in succession, but Hobbie banked right with Luke and her bolts went wide. Closing her eyes and focusing through the Force, she shot out and hit Hobbie's engine dead on.

Hobbie disappeared from the computer screen and became listed under the other four Rogues.

"_Woohoo!" _she screamed out over the comm and heard Luke cry out in victory as well.

"_Yes! Mara! You did it!" _he called out, throwing his X-Wing into a spin. Luke flipped channels and lifted the Radio Silence, as the three Rogues on the Empire team returned to the main channel.

"_Damn, Jade," _Hobbie called out over the comm. _"That was some intense piloting you've got there."_

"_Thanks, Hobbie," _she said, shaking her head.

"_Alright, Rogues,"_ Luke said. _"Let's head back down to base and and Dub Mara Rogue Five, shall we?"_

"_I'm in," _Wedge said. _"Anyone with those skills can't go near the Gold team. They might start getting cocky about their abilities."_

"_Yeah, they need to know who the best pilots are!" _Dak laughed over the comm.

"_Alright, let's get back to base," _Luke chuckled, before leading the dive back to base.

Mara grinned, happy with her new position on the Squadron. She was finally somewhat comfortable being a rebel. This was where she belonged. Her decision was final.

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><p><strong>As I mentioned above, I have a lot already written out. But, I think I'll stick with this every other day posting, until my writing speed decreases. Don't know when that will be, but I can't wait to write the ESB arc. That will be in I think three or four more chapters. Maybe more if I add a few scenes in. But until then, review, because I am honestly loving the responses and favs and alerts I'm getting. I was a little worried at first about getting more alerts than favs, but my sister is a big user of the Alert system because she checks her email so often. I on the other hand with favorite anything I'm reading to see what's updated. It's all a point of view thing I guess!<strong>

**NEXT CHAPTER: Mara feels the repercussions to defecting finally and Luke takes care of her somewhat before... Inviting her to breakfast on the Falcon. And because of my being a huge fan of Han and Leia, a fight will ensue, giving Mara something to ponder over. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Am I excited for the coming chapters or what? I spent most of yesterday writing chapters six and seven, and this story is progressing exactly how I want it to! **

**The Falcon scene sort of came out of nowhere, but it fits very nicely from a plot point of view. I'll explain more at the bottom. **

**DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Star Wars. But I did have a Star Wars dream the other day that Luke and Mara were in. That was nifty. I seem to have SW dreams alot from all this fanfic I read right before bed... But I still don't own Star Wars. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

Mara rubbed at her temples furiously, willing her headache to go away. She slumped through the halls of Echo Base, head down, a tired look etched into her features. It had been almost two weeks since she'd garnered her position as Rogue Five. It was two weeks filled with fun games of after-hours Sabacc with the Rogues, TaunTaun patrols, and basic around the base duties. She still couldn't seem to shake the stares of the Alderaanian Princess, though. She wasn't sure as to whether the Princess knew who she was actually in the Empire, or if she just had harsh feelings for her.

Every time Mara probed the force surrounding the Princess for any hint of suspicion or hatred, she came across a wall. The Alderaanian Princess had had someone teach her how to guard her mind, and that didn't surprise her. That girl had spent almost a week of Darth Vader's torture to pull Rebel secrets from her mind and Vader had failed.

But today, none of that mattered to Mara. She was due to return to Coruscant three days ago. Obviously, she missed that rendezvous with the Emperor. Yesterday, an automated message she had recorded was sent from her quarters in the Palace to the Emperor's personal comm unit in his office. In that message, Mara had simply explained that she was defecting, and it was his actions, along with Vader's and the Late Moff Tarkin.

It seemed the only way to get her Master to break the link between their minds, and it worked well. Too well considering the now painful headache she was going through, as well as the odd light-headed situation occurring now that his oppressive presence was gone.

Mara entered the mess hall and flopped down at the table. She leaned her head on her arms to block out the harsh lights of the base, and tried to use the Force to will away some of the pain. Unfortunately, the Force was just not in her favor today, and she had considerable trouble even touching it. She wondered idly if it was due to Palpatine's presence being gone from her mind, or if the pain was just making it too hard to call upon it.

She sincerely hopped it was the latter.

"You okay?" a voice asked and she looked up into Luke's light blue eyes. She tried to nod, but then groaned and clutched at her head. "Headache?"

"You have no idea," she mumbled, leaning back onto her arms.

"C'mon," he said, walking around behind her and started pulling her up out of the chair.

"What are you doing?" she asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Taking you to the Med Bay. There might be something Two-Onebee can do for you."

"No," she pushed against him, but her headache made it too hard to put much force behind it. Luke just held her in a firmer grip.

"No, calm down," he said calmly, almost consoling her in a child-like voice. "Onebee might have something for the pain."

"No shots," she mumbled, as another wave of pain crept it's way across her forehead. She rubbed at her eyes as Luke led her through the base.

"I won't promise anything," he whispered in her ear, tickling her hair against her slightly. Luke seemed to notice her hair right then and grinned. "You should wear your hair down more. You look really good with it this way."

"Stop it," she said, squeezing her eyes shut against the sudden influx of butterflies to her stomach.

"Stop what?" he asked, completely confused.

"Stop complimenting me," she said. "I don't want to have to seek revenge on you like I did to Janson."

Luke chuckled and turned her around another corner. "I wasn't hitting on you, Mara. I was merely stating a fact."

"I know," she said. "You're too nice to act as crudely as some of the Rogues. Why do you have to be so nice?"

"Aunt Beru always told me to respect women," he said with a smile. "Here we are."

Mara forced her head up to look around the Med Bay. The room was heated, one of the few on base that was. The walls were reinforced with Durasteel, and had some of the most advanced equipment benefactors could buy. Princess Leia funded a lot of this herself since she'd inherited so much from those on Alderaan that had no family. Leia claimed to not care about money until the Empire was dead and Democracy ruled again.

Two-OneBee rolled over and greeted the two of them. "Hello, Commander Skywalker, how may I be of service?"

"Hey, OneBee, Mara here has a killer headache and is having a lot of trouble with it," Luke said, his hand still wrapped around her shoulders. "Do you have anything to alleviate the pain some?"

"I do, but I'm afraid to administer any medication, Alliance Protocol requires a blood test to properly diagnose someone."

"OneBee, you can't tell if someone has a headache from a blood test," Luke said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I am aware of that sir," OneBee said in his even electronic voice. "I am a Medical Droid. But it is Alliance Protocol and also it is needed to keep every recruit's data files up to date."

"You know what, I don't need anything after all, Luke, sorry," Mara said, trying to spin in Luke's arms before he turned her back around to face OneBee.

"Fine, run the test, but can you still give her something for the headache?" Luke asked, annoyed with the droid.

"Of course," OneBee said, spinning around and getting the pain medication shots and the equipment needed to run a basic blood test.

"Luke, I really don't want a blood test," Mara pleaded. She wasn't sure what the rebels tested for, but if Midichlorians was one of them, her cover was blown. The Empire would have exterminated her at the Academy with a count like hers. It wasn't high by any standards, but it was higher than the average person.

"Mara, they just run for DNA and basic blood illnesses and sexual diseases," Luke said, leading her over to a chair.

"I don't have any of those," Mara said, blushing. "Well, I have DNA, but not the second two."

He cracked a grin. "Good to know. Now come on, just relax."

"Fine," she huffed as OneBee took her blood and then administered the pain serum. Immediately, she felt the floating sensation of the pain killer run through her veins, and it surprisingly did help with the headache. She'd been unsure as to whether or not it could help with a Force related case like hers.

"How do you feel?" Luke asked, and she smiled lightly up at him.

"Better, thank you," she said. OneBee rolled back over to them, and the both looked at the droid.

"It appears that aside from the headache, you are perfectly healthy Ms. Jade," the droid stated, using her last name since he'd run her DNA and pulled up her file.

"Thanks OneBee," she said and started back out of the Med Bay and into the cold of the Base.

"Have you eaten yet?" Luke asked her, walking next to her.

"No."

"Good," he grinned and led her to the Hangar Bay. She threw him a confused look before leading her over to the _Falcon _and up the ramp. She was hesitant at first, seeing as how she wasn't exactly the favorite person of Princess Leia, and was probably not Han Solo's either by consequence.

But instead, she was greeted with a grin as Han stepped into view, holding a pitcher of Caffe.

"Hey Luke," Han grinned, and then tipped his head at her. "Mara."

"Hello," she mumbled slightly, suddenly embarrassed to be there.

"Leia's already here, we were just waiting for you and Mara and then we were going to get started," Han told Luke, and then led them over to the Dejarek table where Leia was seated next to Chewbacca. Leia grinned at Luke and waved to Mara slightly. Mara smiled back, wondering what exactly she was doing there.

"Do you like Nerf, Mara?" Han asked as they sat down. Mara was situated on the accelerator bench between Chewie and Luke, and Han took his seat next to Leia in a chair pulled up to the table.

"Um, sure, but I'll eat almost anything," she admitted. She was used to eating almost anything since sometimes her missions led her to the oddest parts of the Galaxy.

"Don't say that near Chewie," Han laughed, and Chewie grumbled beside her. Luke laughed, being one of the few at the table that really understood the Wookiee dialect.

"Chewie, you served it raw!" he laughed, and Chewie just shook his head in dismay. Mara glanced at Leia and the two shared an amused smile.

"So, Mara," Leia asked after the laughter died down some. "Are the Rogues treating you okay? I know some of them could be... abrasive."

Luke burst out laughing, and Mara shot him a dirty look.

"Leia, you should have seen it when Wes and Wedge tried to flirt with her! Oh, that was priceless," he laughed. Mara just shook her head.

"I just informed them that I'm not the kind of woman that really allows people to flirt with her before she even knows them. I don't exactly have room right now for a relationship."

Leia glanced quickly at Han and then away when she noticed him looking at her. Even if the Force was a bit elusive right now to Mara, there was no missing what that look meant. Leia stared down at her plate and took another bite of the Nerf steak they were having along with the eggs.

"So, um," Luke began, to end the awkward silence that had befallen the table. "Han, how are the repairs coming to the ship?"

"Alright, I guess," Han shrugged, leaning back against his chair. "I still can't get that damn navi-computer to check the Hyper drive without wanting to engage it first. Sometimes I feel like I just need to gut the system and rebuild it again. It would take days though, and until it was complete, we'd be a sitting duck should the Empire come knocking."

"Well, if you ever need any help at all, you know where to find me," Luke told him.

"Thanks Kid," Han grinned. "If I'd trust anyone near the mechanics of this ship it'd be you and Chewie."

"Well I'm glad I have your approval," Luke said sarcastically. "I can send Artoo by later if you want him to see if the issue lies in the computer itself or if it's the Hyper drive."

"I'd normally say no, but I think I might take you up on that," Han sighed. "But keep Goldenrod off the ship. I don't want him anywhere near here after he tripped and fell into the Navigator Panel. I was tinkering with that thing for a week until I got it tuned back inline with the stars. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to put the coordinates for Corellia out in the Outer Rim, Naboo into Pirate Space, and Tatooine to the Core!"

Luke and Mara laughed and Leia smiled down into her food again. Chewie's rough laugh resonated through the cabin, making Han throw a leery eye to him.

"You guys laugh, but I had to pull out my old hard copy of "The Coordinates of the Galaxy" and manually input a bunch of systems before the system could properly correct itself!"

"You should have told me when it happened!" Luke laughed. "Artoo has all the coordinates in his memory banks! He could've had that thing up and running in two hours flat!"

"Yeah, well, I don't trust droids," Han rolled his eyes. Mara shook her head. Typical Corellian bravado practically radiated off of Han, Force or no Force. Wedge was less cocky about it, but he was the same way. No one could help him, he did simple tasks by himself so he could boast about it.

"Oh, please, Han," Leia laughed, and Mara watched as she broke out of her shell some. "You just don't want to say a droid did something in half the time you did!"

"That's not true!"

"Name one time you let a droid do something for you that you had the most remote chance of doing yourself?" she countered, crossing her arms across her chest.

Han scoffed, mimicking her action. "I let that piece of junk Med Droid patch up my arm last year when I slit it open against the engine."

"Oh please! I had to drag you there with Chewie's help because it wouldn't stop bleeding and you were ignoring it!"

"But I let that droid help me afterwords!" he grinned, pointing a finger at her. "C'mon, Your Worship, you know I was compliant after I was there!"

"Captain, he had to give you a sedative to get you to that point."

"But I was compliant."

Leia rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air. "You just can't admit you're wrong, can you?"

"Can too," Han baited like a three year old. Mara glanced at Luke and saw that he was leaning back with a grin on his face.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I can, Your Highness," he smirked. "But I'm not wrong in this case, so I don't need to."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" she yelled. "You won't let anyone else's opinions in and will only take your own!"

"I can take other people's opinions!" he shouted. Chewie rumbled something and Han snapped his head at the Wookiee. "Now is not the time, you big fur ball!"

Luke leaned down and put his mouth to Mara's ear before whispering, "Chewie just said 'You won't, and I can prove it to you'."

Mara grinned and snickered along with Luke as Leia and Han's fight escalated.

"You're just too full of yourself to see reason, Captain!" Leia shouted.

"You're just too afraid that you'll lose this fight with me in front of Mara and that she'll see you as weak," he taunted. Leia fumed, anger rolling off her in waves.

"Captain," she hissed, her voice low and rough. "I can assure you that that is not the case. And might I also remind you, you have TaunTaun duty today, and I can add clean up to directly after that."

"Your Worship, your threats won't work on me," he grinned. "I see right through you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I do," he said. "I can tell that you're just too afraid to commit to me."

"Commitment? You want to argue commitment?" she asked, wide eyed. "How about you, Mr. I don't want to join the rebellion? What will happen? Nothing, because you've done everything but sign your name already."

"Yeah, well, I don't take to authority well," he said, pointing at his chest.

"Obviously, Captain," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually have a Rebellion to contend to!" She stood up and stalked off and down the ramp.

"Nice seeing ya' Your Worship! Stop by soon to authoritate some more!" Han yelled after her, and waved her off dismissively. He turned back to see Luke, Mara and Chewie watching him. "What?"

"This is good steak," Luke said coolly, taking another bite and grinning.

"Shut up, Luke."

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><p><strong>Okay, I promised to explain the importance for the Falcon scene. Besides my obvious love for all things Han and Leia, it also sets the stage for further Mara and Luke interaction on a less friendly scale and a more romantic one. It's small changes now, but give it a few chapters to build as they start to really realize their feelings. <strong>

**Now, I don't want to sound like a Corellian here, but I think I've been doing a fairly decent job having them slowly fall for each other. My biggest issues with Fanfics are either I am horrible about having people subtly fall for each other, or I start a multi-chapter fic and don't finish it. Or it's just crap and I delete it. But in my opinion, this is turning out to be my best fic so far. So let me know your guy's opinions. Anything I could do to adjust? What are your predictions to upcoming chapters? Any Alliance Protocols you think I should've touched on and didn't?**

**Alrighty then! Next chapter will be up Tuesday! Oh, and it's Hobbie's turn to ask Mara out. He'll be the last one to try his hand at asking her out, and you'll understand why in Chapter Six. And yes, the next chapter is chapter five. So we have Hobbie asking her out, Mara discovering some things about Luke, and an all around touching scene that made me tear up writing it! **

**REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Personally, this is one of my favorite chapters to write. There's alot of author mumbo jumbo that I could tell you about how this affects the plot as a whole, but I'll skip and tell you that this chapter and the next one are my favorites. **

**Also, I'm starting to really like Hobbie's character, and I think I'll include him more after the ESB arc. **

**DISCLAIMER: Flannel Man still owns this. He won't return my calls about me purchasing Star Wars either. I think I may have gone into too much detail about Jar Jar's assassination... **

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

Mara wandered through the base later that night, thinking about the fight Han and Leia had earlier. It was clear to her that they were well aware of the feelings between each other, but that they were both terrified to act upon them.

She'd have to ask Luke sometime about how often those fights went down. She was already guessing the number was fairly high. Mara became lost in her thoughts and didn't even hear Hobbie come running up behind her until a thud and an 'oof' were heard.

She spun around and saw Hobbie lying face down on the floor, pushing himself back up to a standing position.

"Hobbie? What did you do?" she asked, and he grinned at her.

"I slipped on the ice running after you," he laughed. "Don't worry, I'm in and out of the Med Bay all the time, but I'm pretty tough."

Mara rolled her eyes and helped him up. "What were you doing running after me, anyways?"

"Oh, um," he said, looking down and blushing. "You see, I was talking to Wes and Wedge the other day and they were telling me how you shot them down so quickly, you know, when you first arrived."

Mara groaned. "Oh, Hobbie-"

"Hear me out!" he said, throwing his hands up in front of him. "I was just wondering if maybe sometime we could hang out, talk some, get to know each other. It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want to. But I'd like you to consider seeing if there's something between us."

"Hobbie, I'd love to get to know you," she said, but her tone was a sadder, ready to let him down easy. "I just don't want to be looking for a romantic relationship at all right now. You're one of my favorite people in the Rogues, but I really only like you as a friend."

"Is it Luke?" Hobbie asked, grinning sadly.

"What? No!" she said, shaking her head. "What gave you that idea?"

"You guys are just always hanging out together, I figure there must've been something brewing between you guys."

"Hobbie, we're just friends," she told him. "I swear."

"Look, I'll keep you're secret," Hobbie said, putting his hand on her shoulder before removing it after she gave him a glare. "I saw you go eat with him on the Falcon with Solo and the Princess. He never takes anyone to eat with them."

"It was because I had a headache and I was feeling really bad this morning," she explained, but it even sounded like a lie to her own ears.

"Fine, but I won't tell the others," he shrugged. "I think you guys are good together, anyways."

"Then why try to ask me out?" she shook her head in confusion.

"If there was a chance, I was taking it," he grinned. "You're one of the hottest women on base, Mara. I'd be an idiot not to at least hope."

"That's sweet Hobbie, but stop thinking of me that way," she said, grinning.

"Okay, but I'm kicking your ass during the run tomorrow," he said, heading back the way he came, pointing at her. She grinned.

"Don't bet on it, Klivian."

"Whatever you say, Jade!" he laughed and jogged back down the corridor. Mara shook her head, and felt the remnants from her headache begin to reappear. She frowned and continued her exploration of the base.

She rubbed her temple and continued walking for a little longer, before she heard the unmistakable sounds of a lightsaber. Furrowing her brow, she followed them before she came across someone swinging a brilliant blue blade about, blocking every bolt that a training sphere was producing.

She watched for a few more seconds, before the owner of the blade deactivated it and looked over to her. She gasped when she saw Luke's bright blue eyes on her, his hair matted and sweaty from his work out.

"What... What are you doing?" she asked, shocked.

"Training," Luke shrugged, before picking the deactivated training sphere up and putting it back in its case.

"You're Force Sensitive?" she asked, and Luke nodded. She stepped up closer to him and glanced around the room. It was a sort of gym for members of the base, with various workout equipment to keep troops in shape.

"Yeah," Luke shrugged. "My Dad was a Jedi. Why didn't you tell me you were Force Sensitive?"

Her head snapped to Luke's and she immediately when into protection mode. "I'm not."

"Please, you were using the Force all the time when you first got here," Luke said, calling a towel to him from the chair across the room. He caught it effortlessly and toweled off his face and the back of his neck, before starting in on his hair.

"Fine, so I am, what does it matter?" she asked, her voice hard.

"Because you lied about being a TIE pilot. Vader would have sniffed you out at the Academy in heart-beat," Luke said, staring down at her, some hurt in his eyes. "What did you do for the Empire?"

"I'm not a double agent," she stated, trying to delay the answer she'd surely have to give.

"I never thought you were," he stated, still waiting for an answer.

She bit her lip and looked away, suddenly ashamed of something she had no control over.

"Mara, tell me," Luke said, his voice softer, pleading. He put his hand under her chin and pulled her face back to look at him. "Mara."

She sighed, and her eyes teared up slightly. "You'll hate me."

"I could never hate you," he said quietly. His eyes were the lightest blue she'd ever seen them, and they conveyed the truth of his words.

"I... I was an assassin," she said quietly. Luke dropped his hand from her chin and he nodded.

"That's not so bad."

"There's more," she said, blinking at the tears. "I was a... a hand for the Emperor."

"A Hand?"

"We, were connected. There was a link between our minds. He could talk to me from anywhere in the Galaxy," she explained. Luke's eyes widened.

"That's why you had the headache earlier," he said, putting the pieces together. "He severed the connection."

Mara nodded, and then wiped away a stray tear from her cheek. "An automated message was sent to him last night. I explained my defection."

"Wow," Luke said, before suddenly enveloping her in a tight hug. She froze for a second before hugging him back. It felt so warm, and caring. She suddenly realized that Luke was the first person to ever hug her. A sob escaped her chest and she clutched tighter at Luke's snowsuit. His arms squeezed reassuringly around her, silently letting her know it was okay to cry.

Mara for once in her life truly cried. She wasn't so much ashamed about it either. It felt so natural to show this side of her emotion to Luke. He was the first person that has ever truly trusted her, and never preyed upon her abilities or really ever looked at her as nothing but a woman. He truly wanted to know her.

As Mara's sobs slowed, Luke released his hold on her somewhat and she looked up into his eyes, wiping at stray tears. He reached up tentatively and brushed a few tears away with his thumb. She closed her eyes at the sensation, and then opened them again when his hands fell down to her shoulders.

"I needed that," she admitted.

"I know," Luke said, smiling slightly. "So now that I know your background, do you want to work on using the force with me?"

She grinned, before her grin faded and she looked down again. "I... I can't use it anymore. I don't know what happened. It just... disappeared this morning after the headache came."

"Do you think Palpatine was feeding you power through the bond?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"I don't know. That's the thing. I feel so relieved the bond is severed, and his dark presence is gone from my mind, but I still am having trouble even feeling the Force for people's feelings.

Luke nodded. "Maybe you just need to relearn how to use the Force. You're powerful, I know that much. I could feel how strong you were every time you opened yourself up to it in the skies."

"Maybe I do, but on top of that, I was only ever taught the darkside. I've been using the Force so much lately as an unconventional practice of the Lightside," she explained.

"Did they take you from birth?" he asked and she nodded.

"I never knew my mother. She was probably killed upon my kidnapping."

"Probably," Luke agreed sadly. "Do you still have that headache?"

She nodded. "It came back just before I heard you practicing. It's better than earlier though. It's a lot less painful."

"Good," he said. "Maybe the severing effects are almost completely over then."

"I hope so," she said. "Can you just walk me back to my quarters? I think I just want to sleep."

"Sure," Luke grinned and then placed his hand on her lower back and led her out. They walked in silence back to her room and she stopped and turned to him before unlocking the door.

"Thanks... Thanks for not judging me," she told him.

"Of course," he nodded. "Everyone deserves a chance."

"Yeah, but I think once it gets out I used to work for the Emperor himself some people won't trust me."

"You mean Leia," Luke stated, rather than asked. Mara nodded.

"She doesn't trust me already, I think. She's got really strong shields."

"Really?" he asked, confusion on his face.

"Yeah," she said, almost as confused. "You've never tried to feel her emotions or intentions?"

"Yeah, but I never though her shields were even that great."

"How do you think she survived being interrogated by Vader for so long without mind shields?"

"I never thought of it that way," Luke said, looking down the hall in wonder. "I've always been able to get a read on her."

"Oh," Mara said, then shrugged. "She's one of the few people I can't even get a whiff of their emotions from. No matter."

"I guess," Luke nodded, his brow still furrowed in thought.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Luke," she said, smiling slightly in the dim corridor.

"See you then, Mara," he said as she palmed the door and slipped inside. Luke stared at the door for a few moments longer before walking out of the hallway and towards the Hangar bay. He had a lot to mull over, and he did his best thinking while either meditating, or working on his X-Wing.

As he walked towards his ship though, he saw a figure leaning up against it. Luke paused for a second, before realizing it was only Wedge.

"What are you doing here so late?" Luke asked, before walking under his ship and examining the engine.

"Could ask the same thing to you, buddy," Wedge grinned.

"I needed to think."

"You should just admit it, you know," Wedge told him, and Luke glanced at him, confused.

"Admit what?"

"You totally dig Jade."

"She's an excellent pilot," Luke said into his engine.

"C'mon, admit it, you like her more than just as a pilot!" Wedge said, grinning like a madman. Luke snapped his head to Wedge.

"If you mean as anything more than a friend, then you're wrong."

"You're a horrible liar, Luke."

"I'm not lying," he insisted. "Besides, even if I did care for her as more than a friend, I'm her commanding officer. Nothing could happen."

"So that's why you haven't made a move?" Wedge asked.

"No, I haven't made a move because she's my friend, nothing more," Luke shook his head. "Why don't you go pick on Janson or something?"

"Janson is an idiot," Wedge laughed. "You're much more fun to mess with."

"You guys better not be still pestering Mara, either," he warned.

"Why? Too embarrassed to be shot down indirectly?"

"No, but she has a lot going on right now and doesn't need you morons on top of it."

"Whatever you say, Loverboy," Wedge laughed. "Do try to get some sleep, tonight. Wouldn't want you to not be your handsome best for when Mara sees you."

Luke threw out a punch to Wedge, who neatly dodged it laughing.

"Get some rest, Antilles. I think you have extra TaunTaun duty in the morning," Luke grinned.

"That's cold, Skywalker."

"Wear extra thermals then."

"Aye, Aye Commander!" Wedge saluted and jogged out of the Hangar bay, leaving Luke to work on his ship in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>So there you have it! Mara knows about Luke and now Luke knows her history! This is a pretty important chapter, almost as much as the next one. And I won't tell you why! Mwahahaha!<strong>

**Chapter 6 is the last pre-ESB chapter. I know, tear. I've also found that I'm not liking writing the ESB chapters as much as I thought I would seeing as how it's my favorite SW movie. It's too stifiling, and I'm trying to alter the original story line as little as possible while also including Mara in as much as I can. It's getting there. **

**NEXT CHAPTER: Mara and Luke begin working on her Force training, but someone sees them sparring and realizes Mara has lied. (I'd give you more but just trust you may want to hit a few characters!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**And we have what is my single favorite chapter posted! Yes, this is the longest chapter, the one that will make you punch a character, and laugh at the Rogues. It's got everything in my opinion. **

**But I digress. **

**DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Star Wars. Outlook is grim as to whether I'll ever own it. So, George, it's still yours. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

"You need to relax."

"How am I supposed to relax? It's like ten degrees in here!"

"I don't know, think of something soothing."

"Well, what do you think of?"

"Flying. Not focus on something you like to do. Something you enjoy."

"Ahh, punching Janson."

"Something with less aggression."

"Krith."

"C'mon, just relax and feel the Force moving about. Through you."

"Fine, fine," Mara conceded, and inhaled deeply to relax herself. After a few moments, she felt the familiar tingle through her veins and grinned.

"You feel it?"

"Yeah, man does it feel good after so long."

"See, you still have it, you just need to re-figure out how to use it," Luke said, and Mara opened her eyes and grinned. They were sitting cross-legged on the mat in the middle of the workout room of Echo Base facing each other. The base was silent, only the night-watch was awake, and the blast doors had been closed almost four hours ago.

"Yeah, but it's like I'm a youngling again," she said, then winced. "I keep expecting to get beaten for not performing my best."

"They beat you?" Luke asked, horrified. _How could someone ever hit a child, let alone Mara?_

"Yeah," she nodded. "Teaches you responsibility. If you fail in the real galaxy, you die."

"But, how could they in good conscience beat you?" he shook his head.

"They were fallen Jedi, Luke," she told him. "They'd lost themselves. Maybe not as much as Vader..." she trailed off. Luke looked up into her eyes and nodded.

"What happened to them?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Once they outlived their usefulness and trained all the Hands Palpatine needed," she paused, looking away. "He killed them."

Luke reached out and put his finger under her chin, pulling her face back to look at him. "Would he have done that to you too? Eventually?"

"Eventually, maybe," she shrugged. "But I was the top Hand. I was the one he was the closest to. I never failed."

"You didn't fail by coming here," Luke told her, seeming to sense what she needed to hear. Mara nodded and grinned slightly.

"Okay, enough of this. When can I start trying to float stuff again?" she asked, and Luke chuckled.

"How about tomorrow, since we both need to sleep," he told her.

"Alright, Farmboy," she nodded and they got up.

After a week of Luke retraining her, it became an unspoken agreement that he would walk her to quarters every night. He bid her goodnight, and the two parted again until morning.

Luke entered his sparse quarters and flopped down on his bed. He was still amazed at the cruelty that was the sith and the Dark Jedi. A part of him knew he shouldn't be surprised, but at the same time, he was. How could anyone look at Mara and be able to abuse her? He could never harm her beautiful face.

Luke's breathing stilled as he tossed his last thought over in his head. It was no lie that he and half the base thought Mara was beautiful. But should he even be allowing himself to be having these thoughts about her? He was her commanding officer. He couldn't in good conscience be bother her commander and her... what? Lover?

A part of him knew without a doubt that if he were ever to become that close to Mara he'd be much, much more than just her lover.

Luke groaned and rubbed his palms into his eyes. He needed to stop. He couldn't let these thoughts take him over. He needed to just sever any non-friendship related feelings for Mara now.

"This is going to be hard," he mumbled.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, Mara was able to touch the Force a lot more regularly. She was incredibly powerful, which was no surprise to Luke, even without knowing her history. They'd moved from simple levitation tests to now full on sparring with Lightsabers. Mara used her red one, even if she didn't like it at all. She had informed Luke that she already planned to construct a new one, but lacked the crystals to do so.<p>

One night, the two engaged in serious sparring, focusing only on the fight. Mara was pushing herself hard, and consequently was having trouble using the Force to guide her motions. She'd been so used to calling upon the Force by commanding it, that grasping it lightly and allowing it to do some of her work for her was hard for her to do every time.

"C'mon, Mara, just allow the Force to flow through you," Luke said breathlessly. His strokes and parries were fluent and smooth, whereas Mara's were still the aggressive fighting style enabled by the sith.

"I'm trying, Farmboy," she gritted through her teeth.

"Don't try, just do," he said. She gritted her teeth, but relaxed her hold on the Force some. It immediately filled her limbs with the power, and she was able to block Luke's strikes more effectively. Luke was pushed back as she went on the offensive, and he ducked a few slashes aimed at his head. Their sabers locked, and Luke pushed back with a Force enhanced push. Mara stumbled back and Luke took the offensive now. She parried every slash made at her, until she finally ducked down and kicked Luke's legs out from under him. She stood over him and held his lightsaber to his throat before deactivating it, and holding her hand out.

Luke grinned and took her hand, allowing her to help pull him up.

"What's going on here?" a sharp voice came from the doorway, and Mara and Luke snapped their heads towards it. There stood Leia, arms crossed, looking angrier than a Gundark in a confined space.

"Oh, sith," Luke hissed under his breath.

"Yeah, oh sith is right, Luke," Leia said, anger coating her voice. She walked in and threw her hand out to gesture at Mara. "What are you doing?"

"Um, teaching Mara the ways of the Force?" he tried, and Leia's expression only became angrier.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, _Future Jedi_, but is her lightsaber not the color of Darth Vader's?" she asked. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that makes her our enemy."

"Leia, I can explain," Mara started before Leia gave her an angry glare.

"You lied, Mara. I don't know whether or not you are a threat to the Alliance," Leia told her.

"Leia, she's on our side," Luke pleaded.

"How do you know she's not fooling you, Luke? She lied to us!"

"She didn't lie to me," he said. "You need to calm down. She's with us now."

"Luke, I'm sorry, but she needs to be interrogated," Leia said, a touch of sympathy in her voice for the Tatooine native.

"Leia-" Luke began before getting cut off.

"I'll do it," Mara said, and Luke's head whipped to hers in disbelief. She looked at Luke to explain. "I'll go through rounds of explaining everything to garner the trust of the Alliance. I'm not a spy."

"I'm sorry," Leia began, and Luke thought she was apologizing for the outbreak before she grabbed Mara's forearm. "I have to put you in holding tonight before we begin the interrogation, just in case you try something."

"Leia, no!" Luke called, panicked.

"I'm sorry, Luke," Leia said, and led Mara out of the training room with no resistance. Mara glanced over her shoulder at Luke and smiled sadly before she rounded the corner out of the room.

Luke stared at the doorway for a long moment before he heard a strangled cry escape his lips. He brushed a hand to his eye and realized he was crying. He was crying for Mara.

He fell down to his knees, and let himself cry, because what he'd just witnessed was almost an outright betrayal by his best friend.

* * *

><p>"Mara, we're sorry to have to do this," General Rieekand said, sitting in front of Mara at the interrogation table. "But this is Alliance Protocol, and it does appear you have forged your Imperial Records.<p>

"I understand, General," she nodded. She glanced at the mirrored window as she felt Luke's presence enter the other room.

"Okay, Ms. Jade, please state your position in the Empire, prior to joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic."

"I was a Hand to the Emperor," she stated, ignoring the shocked waves of emotion coming from the general in front of her and in the room behind the window.

"And as a Hand to the Emperor, what did you do?"

"I was an assassin, or I gathered intelligence for the Emperor himself," she explained. "There was a bond that linked us via the Force that I could receive orders from anywhere in the Galaxy."

"So by this bond, you could have revealed the location to Echo Base?" Rieekand asked, a somewhat worried tone to his voice.

"I could have, yes, but did I? No," she stated. "Commander Skywalker can attest as well as the Med Droid that almost three weeks ago I entered the Med Bay due to an extreme headache that almost impaired my abilities. This was the severing of the bond by the Emperor himself, after receiving a pre-recorded holo-message stating I defected."

"Those claims will be checked out to hold up your story," Rieekand said, a small grin on his lips. "Now, please explain the reason you chose to defect from the Empire, for the record."

"I had been growing weary of the Emperor's more rash orders and little thought to my needs such as sleep and rest between missions. I was punished for any slip up or something as small as a request for leave time. Then, as I'm sure you and the Alliance is well aware, there was the destruction of Alderaan. That sent me extremely close to the edge of defection then," she said, pausing to gain her bearings. "After that, I was sent on Jedi hunts, but I found none being that they are all but extinct. I was punished for that, and sent on a mission to discover the whereabouts of the Rebel Alliance. I used any intel I gained during that mission to defect myself, and turned nothing into the Empire. That brings us up to date I believe."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Jade," the General said sadly. "But, for the record, I'm going to have to ask you about the 'punishments'."

Mara paled, and looked to the mirrored window towards Luke's presence. She hoped she was staring right at where she thought he would be before turning back to the General.

"Force lightning."

General Rieekand swallowed heavily and nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation." He stood up and walked out of the interrogation room, leaving her alone once more. She felt the Force surrounding the room next to her and felt those that had watched the interrogation leave, save Luke. Once everyone had left, she looked at Luke and nodded, a small smile on her face. But her eyes betrayed her, as they watered with unshed tears.

Luke watched her through the glass, smiling slightly at him before she put her head on her arms on the table. Several minutes passed where he simply watched her, awaiting an answer from the high-ups. The door slid open and he broke his watch of Mara to look at the person who stepped in.

Leia smiled meekly before Luke's expression hardened and looked back to Mara.

"Luke, I'm so sorry to have to do this," she told him, walking up next to him.

"She's innocent, Leia," he said. "You have to believe her. Believe me."

"I know, Luke," she said. Luke looked at her again.

"Do you?" he asked. "Do you know just how innocent she is? How she was taken from her mother to be raised in evil? How even after everything, she's still a good person?"

"Luke, I know how it feels to be taken from my mother and not remember her," Leia started, her own eyes watering.

"So do I, Leia. And we both know how it feels to have the only family we've ever known to die at the hands of the Empire," he said. "So we of all people should know how she feels to an extent. I thought the Alliance helped those that the Empire hurt?"

"It does, but she lied about her file, Luke," she said. "Surely you see how suspicious that is?"

"I do, but I also know that she didn't deserve to spend a night in an Alliance Prison Cell."

"Maybe not, but she's being cleared as we speak. Rieekand doesn't think she's a spy, and neither do I. She'll be cleared."

"I hope that's true, Leia," Luke said calmly before turning his attention back to Mara. Rieekand entered the room, and smiled.

"I'm sorry for holding you Ms. Jade. I as well as the others in Command have found you innocent of any accusations," he told her. She smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, General. I assure you that I am innocent," she said, and stood to exit the room. Luke saw her get up and started bounding to the door, exiting the room just as she exited her room. He pulled her into a tight hug and she returned it.

"Thank gods you've been cleared," he said into her hair.

"I know," she said, nodding against his chest. He pulled back and broke the hug, a huge grin on his face.

"C'mon, let's go get something to eat. It's almost dinner and the Rogues are worried about you," he said, and the two walked past Leia, who truly did look sorry, and towards the mess hall.

Leia was left alone in the hallway with General Rieekand, who walked up beside her.

"There something going on between them?" he asked casually. Leia looked up at him and grinned.

"I think there might be, but they probably haven't acted on it."

"Reminds me of someone else I know," Rieekand smiled and looked down at Leia. She blushed and looked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about, General," she said evenly.

"Of course you don't, Lelila," Rieekand smiled, using Leia's old nickname. He brushed the side of her head and headed down the hallway, leaving Leia alone once more.

* * *

><p>"So you really worked for the Emperor?" Dak asked, excitedly.<p>

"Yeah," she nodded, giving a slight smile.

"Wow, that guys scares the living Force out of me!" he said, much too excitedly.

"Calm down, Dak!" Wes laughed, nudging the boy in the shoulder.

Luke shook his head at the Squad antics. They were all eating together, happy to have Mara back amongst them, cleared of any suspicion.

"So you can use the Force like Lukie here?" Wedge asked, shoveling a bite of the Bantha Stew in his mouth.

"Um, yeah," she smiled. "I can."

"What are the odds, Luke?" Wedge laughed. "Maybe there will be more than one Jedi in the end!"

Luke nodded and smiled, before glancing at Mara seated next to him. She smiled back at him before turning back to the table.

"So did they treat you alright last night, Jade?" Hobbie asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, probably better than they would a regular Imp," she shrugged. "They gave me an extra blanket seeing as how there was no heater in the cell."

"Yikes," Wes said, eyes wide. "Still have your toes?"

"Yeah," Mara laughed. "All of them are still intact."

"Good," Wedge said. "Need those things to balance and they don't make prosthetic toes."

Luke laughed at the absurdity of the conversation. "Are we honestly having a discussion about Mara's toes?"

"Looks like it, Commander," Dak laughed.

"Hey, as long as you guys are not focusing on other parts of me, I'm fine," Mara laughed.

"But Mara, your nose is so lovely!" Wes teased and Mara reached out and threw a punch to his shoulder from across the table. Wes dodged and laughed.

"You're an idiot, Janson," Wedge shook his head.

"C'mon, what else can I make a joke out of that won't offend her?" Wes asked.

"I dunno," Hobbie said slowly. "She's pretty perfect if you ask me."

"I'm not perfect," Mara rolled her eyes.

"Well, who do we have in this base to look at? There is a one to three ratio of women to men, and the hottest girls already have formidable men pining after them!" he argued.

"Who? Leia and Han?" she asked, confused.

"Amongst others!" he said said, exasperated. "You're one of the most beautiful women on base and we can't even touch you because of the Man Code."

"What are you even talking about, Klivian?" Luke asked, thoroughly confused.

The Rogues of the table exchanges an uneasy look before Wedge spoke up.

"You know, the Man Code," he started. "You don't go after someone else's potential girl if it looks like he has a chance."

"How come I don't know about this?" Luke asked. Dak snickered and shook his head, before getting up from the table to turn in his bowl and utensils.

"See ya later, Commander," Dak laughed and walked off.

"Yeah, I gotta go too," Wes mumbled, grinning ear to ear, and took off after Dak, leaving only Mara, Luke, Wedge and Hobbie.

"Maybe you missed the memo," Hobbie shrugged in regards to the earlier conversation.

"I hang out with you guys everyday, how did you avoid talking about it with me?" Luke asked.

"Dunno," Wedge shrugged, taking his last bite of Stew.

"I'm confused, I'll see you boys later," Mara said and got up. She walked off and Luke turned back to Wedge and Hobbie.

"Is everyone leaving because I'm missing something?" Luke asked, suddenly feeling slightly offended.

"Nah, but now we can tell you why you don't know," Hobbie waved dismissively.

"We're invoking the Man Code against you and Mara," Wedge said simply.

"What? We're just friends," Luke insisited.

"For now," Hobbie grinned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Luke, it just means that we see that you like her, and she'd be a fool not to like you back," Wedge said.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," Luke said, standing up to leave. "You guys need to stop trying to breathe in space or something. I'll see you later."

Luke walked off and Hobbie and Wedge shook their heads at their commander.

"Denial," Hobbie sang, stretching out the word.

"Complete denial," Wedge agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>I love Hobbie and Wedge. Hands down. <strong>

**So, this is my favorite chapter, but the next few I hate and were really a pain to write. **

**This officially concludes the Prelude, and now we are starting the Empire Strikes Back Arc. And I don't like most of it until Dagobah. Except the Med Bay scene. That's always been my favorite. **

**Next few chapters are going to be short, about 5 pages each, whereas I've been knocking out 6 or 7 per chapter. This one was 8. But, these are necessary evils, and Mara plays a smaller part in upcoming chapters, save the Battle of Hoth. **

**Now I'm giving too much away! XP**

**NEXT CHAPTER: A creature attacks Luke on his patrol around the base, and Han and Mara go out in search for him. **

**REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, seven chapters... That's a lot for me. I really do like how this story is turning out. It seems like I pick a plot point and focus on getting there to get me through the more stifiling chapters. **

**Now, a lot of the dialogue falls just like it did in the movie, and I've only changed minor things. As the chapters progress, we'll pull further and further away from the film. Until then, we have chapter seven. **

**DISCLAIMER: If I had a beard and wore flannel, I may be George Lucas. But since I have breasts and no facial hair, I'm guessing I'm not. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

The weeks after Mara's interrogation were rough, but eventually it all passed into, well, the past. Lately, the interference the asteroid field surrounding Hoth was causing had grounded all the ships, save for the supply ships. But even those were running thinner and thinner lately. They brought more food and supplies to compensate, but it was a scary time to be on Hoth. Imperial searches and activity was picking up, and the Alliance wasn't sure what to make of it, other than the Emperor and Vader wanted them gone.

The Rogues were getting restless, having never been out of the skies this long since they'd joined up in the Rebellion, and were forced to take on other tasks within the base. The Rogues took up more TaunTaun duty, since their duty was less due to their needed training in the skies.

Mara spent less time with the Tauns than the rest of the Rogues, instead taking up tedious Command Center duty with Leia, whom she now was on a somewhat friendly basis with. It was hard work, and Mara really didn't mind it all that much. She was required to keep track of who came and left the base on TaunTauns, and was also the command center contact for those individuals as well.

Today was just like any other day in Hoth Base since the grounding of the flights, except a storm was coming that needed to be carefully monitored in case it changed course or came in faster than previously predicted.

Mara watched as Luke and Han's Tauns left the base, and monitored their tracking signals carefully. Leia was talking with General Rieekan regarding the next food transport, and what they would do if they came late. Food supplies were relatively low, and rations were being served round the clock.

It was a dark time for the base indeed.

Luke pulled on the Reins of his TaunTaun, effectively slowing the hulking animal. He glanced at the horizon and saw something crash and hit the snow with a heavy impact, throwing snow up into the air. He pulled out his electronic binoculars and examined the crash site and saw nothing. But that didn't quell his curiosity.

He placed the binoculars back on his belt, and activated the comm unit on his wrist.

"Echo Three to Echo Seven," he said. "Han 'o Buddy, do you read me?"

"_Loud and clear, Kid_," Han replied. "_What's up?_"

"Well I finished my circle, I don't pick up any life readings," he replied.

"_There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser,"_ Han said. _"Sensors are placed, I'm goin' back."_

"Alright, I'll see you shortly," Luke said. "There's a meteorite that hit the ground, near here. It won't take long."

As soon as he shut off the comm unit, his TaunTaun began acting up, almost trying to buck him off.

"Steady! Steady girl! Hey, what's the matter? You smell something?" he consoled, but almost to answer his question, a huge creature, much larger than he, emerged from it's hiding spot in the snow with a loud growl. He swiped his paw at Luke, knocking him off the TaunTaun and onto the ground, effectively knocking him out.

* * *

><p>Mara logged in Han's return to Echo Base for the records, and wondered idly where Luke was. <em>Curious Farmboy is curious<em>, she thought to herself with a sly smile. She saw Leia stiffen next to her and turn, and Mara followed Leia's eyes. Han was in the command center, talking to General Rieekand. He'd been talking a lot lately about leaving to go pay off his debt to Jabba the Hutt, and every time it came up, he and Leia had an argument about it.

Personally, Mara could see the immediate need to pay off the debt to the slug. She didn't think Leia truly knew the gravity of the situation Han was in for letting this debt slide for so long.

"Solo," Rieekand greeted, immersed in his work.

"No sign of life out there, General," Han said. "Sensors are placed. You'll know if anything comes around."

"Commander Skywalker report back in yet?"

"No, he's checking out a meteorite near here," Han told him.

"With all the meteorite activity in this system, it's going to be difficult to detect approaching ships," the General said, covering his worried tone with an air of dignity.

"General, I gotta leave," Han said, changing the subject. "I can't stay anymore."

Mara chanced a glance at Leia and noted the pained look on her face, before she turned and immersed herself in her work again.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Rieekand said truthfully.

"Yeah, well, I got a price on my head and if I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt I'm a dead man."

"A death mark's not an easy thing to live with," the General said. "You're a good fighter, Solo, I hate to lose you."

Han and the General shook hands, effectively sealing the deal.

"Thank you, General," Han said, and turned to face Leia. "Well, Your Highness, guess this is it."

Leia nodded coolly. "That's right."

Han gritted his teeth slightly and ignored the stab of pain in his chest her words gave him. "Well... Don't get all mushy on me, so long Princess!" Han waved dismissively and left the command center.

Leia gaped a little at his abrupt leave before Mara elbowed her in the thigh. Leia looked down sharply and Mara nodded to the door.

"Go," she said simply, and Leia took off after Han.

The command center watched her leave, their work slowing as they listened to what they expected to be a loud and slightly terrifying fight.

"Han!" Leia called as she left the room. Her voice became muffled by the closing door, and the command center became utterly silent as they struggled to hear the fight.

Snippets of Leia's voice was heard as she yelled at Han. "...We need you!"

"We need... you need?" they heard Han's muffled but low voice.

"I need? I don't know..."

Han said something in reply but his voice was too low to understand. Leia's high voice broke back in again before fading away.

"And what precisely am I suppos..."

The command center struggled for a few more moments to hear the fight until they gave up and resumed their work .

Mara shook her head and communicated with the TaunTaun holding room about not letting anyone else out because of nightfall. As soon as Luke reported in, they would shut the blast doors.

Leia reentered the Command center and huffed back up to Mara.

"Anything new?" she asked, agitated still from her fight with Han.

"No," Mara said, glancing back at the screen. Luke's homing beacon was finally moving again... But in the wrong direction of the base. "Oh no."

"What?" Leia asked, suddenly concerned. Mara leapt out of her chair and started heading for the door while yelling back to Leia.

"Luke is still out there and heading the wrong way. I don't know what's up! I've got to get a team out there after him!" Mara ran out of the room and towards the Hangar Bay. She spotted the _Falcon_ sitting there, while Han angrily shouted at Chewie.

"I'm trying to get us both out of here and you pull both of these apart!" He yelled and Chewie grumbled and started packing up whatever part he was working on.

"Han!" Mara called as she jogged up to him.

"What, Jade? I'm not in the mood," he said angrily, tossing a hydro spanner into a pile of tools.

"Luke hasn't reported in yet!"

"He's checking out the-" Han began before Mara interrupted him.

"His homing Beacon is going in the wrong direction! He's headed into the storm!"

"What?" Han asked, standing up abruptly. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know! We need to get a search team out there!" she said, and Han took off for the TaunTauns. They arrived into the room, and Mara winced at the smell.

"Graven!" Han called out, and the officer currently in charge of the TaunTauns looked over. "Skywalker reported in yet?"

"Uh, no sir," Graven said, slightly afraid of Han.

"Damn, he's missing, we need a search team, do we have the speeders ready?" Han asked, glancing about.

"Um, no sir, we were having an issue with acclimating them to the cold," Graven answered.

"We'll have to go out on TaunTauns then," Han said and started heading for his designated Taun.

"Sir! It's too cold!" Graven pleaded. "The temperature is dropping too rapidly!"

"That's right and my friend is out in it!" Han said, pointing at the officer before climbing up his Taun.

"Your TaunTaun will freeze before you hit the first marker!" Graven warned as a last ditch effort.

Han situated himself and glanced at the officer. "Then I'll see you in Hell!" He took off into the snow and Mara glanced about.

"Are you guys sending anyone else?" she asked. Graven looked at her, and shook his head.

"It's too dangerous. It's safer to lose one person than to risk a whole team. That storm is coming in too fast."

"You are a wimp, you know that?" Mara told him. "Call the Command Center and find out what General Rieekand's orders are before you decide not to send anyone else!"

Mara stalked off to a TaunTaun in the corner.

"What are you doing?" Graven asked, alarmed.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" she asked before taking off out of the base herself. She followed Han's Force Signature and caught up with him quickly, since he'd stopped to scan the area.

"Pick anything up?" she called over the wind. Han looked back at her surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"I guess I'm not surprised," Han shook his head, before climbing back on his TaunTaun. "I'm not getting anything, is there anything you can do with that weird Force thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded, stretching out to try and pick up Luke's signature. She felt it suddenly, and pointed off in the distance. "That way."

"Alright," Han nodded and the two rode off towards the horizon.

* * *

><p>Luke was upside down. How he got there, took him a second, but then he saw the creature that had knocked him out in the corner, eating his TaunTaun.<p>

_Guess I should be glad I'm dessert, _Luke thought sarcastically. He glanced about for a way to get down and spotted his lightsaber wedged in the snow. He tried reaching for it, but it was too far away. He centered himself in the Force, and reached out again, this time, the lightsaber wiggled in the snow.

A roar sounded and Luke knew he needed to work fast. The lightsaber flew to his hand and he activated it and whacked at the ice by his feet, knockin him down.

_That was dumb, you almost just cut your feet off._ Luke grimaced at the thought and gained his bearings. The creature swiped at him again and this time Luke cut off the creature's arm. He ran out of the cave and out into the now ferocious storm. He cleared the first snowbank, but then tumbled down the other side of it, before getting up and running off into the snow where he thought the base might be located. If he didn't get inside fast, he was a dead man.

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><p><strong>Not much to say about this chapter. Next one is Luke's rescues... And Mara and Han's encampment overnight.<strong>

**Also! I have a Man Code spin off one-shot for this! You can find it on my profile under 'Man Code'. Just the creation of the code that caused so many laughs last chapter! Kinda want to give a shout out to Future ADA for the idea! **

**REVIEW**


	8. Chapter 8

**I certainly like this chapter alot more than the last one. Something about the last one really bugged me. I don't know what. Regardless, here is the next chapter! **

**DISCLAIMER: If you haven't guessed by now, I don't own Star Wars...**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Eight<span>**

"We should be coming up on him soon," Mara called over the snow. "His signature is really close."

"I don't see anything out here," Han said worriedly. "We need to find him fast."

"Yeah I know," Mara grumbled, and scanned the horizon again. This time though, she spotted something dark against the white snow. "There! Let's check it out!"

The two rode their TaunTauns forward, and confirmed that they had indeed found Luke.

"Luke!" Han called and jumped off his Taun and ran to his best friend. Mara followed suit, and fell into the snow next to Han. "C'mon Luke, don't die on me. Give me a sign."

As if on cue, Han's TaunTaun shuddered and fell to the side, dead.

"That's not good," Mara said, and eyed her own TaunTaun. It wouldn't last the trek back to Base in this cold, let alone carrying three of them.

"We can put Luke in my TaunTaun and keep him warm," Han told her, already dragging him towards the dead animal.

"Ben..." Luke moaned out, and Mara's eyes snapped to him.

"Ben?" she asked, and Han shrugged.

"Dagobah... Yoda... Yoda!" Luke kept moaning out as Mara snatched her lightsaber and sliced open the TaunTaun's belly.

"This may smell bad, Kid," Han grunted, sliding Luke's limp form into the animal, before resting on top. "And I thought," he panted, "they smelled bad on the outside!"

"No time to rest, Solo," Mara said, and began setting up their shelter for the night. She eyed her TaunTuan again, as it shivered in the extreme cold. Han started digging and packing the snow, and within a half hour they constructed a rudimentary cave for themselves to block the wind, and a deeper hole for Mara's TaunTaun, whether it survived the night or not.

"Do you think this will hold?" Mara asked, gesturing to their cave.

"I hope so," Han sighed. Their shelter was large enough to sit up right in, and they'd utilized the emergency packs situated on the TaunTauns. A small lantern lit the space, and a portable heater kept the temperature around zero for them. That would help them survival wise as the storm raged on.

Mara glanced at Luke, still unconscious with his face sticking out of the dead TaunTaun just enough to breathe. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them, extremely worried for Luke.

"He'll be alright," Han said, and Mara looked at him. Han flashed a sympathetic smile before continuing. "The Kid's tough. We'll get him back to base and into some Bacta and everything will be fine."

"I can't help but worry about him, still."

"And I'm not worrying about him?" Han asked, and watched Luke's form again. "What's between you and the kid, anyways? Truthfully."

"We're friends," Mara answered automatically.

"Like how the Princess and I are just friends," Han said as a statement rather a question.

She hesitated a second, before smiling a nodding. "Yeah, like you and the Princess."

"Thought so," he grinned and looked towards the small exit of the cave that allowed oxygen in.

"Why don't you just tell Leia how you feel?" She asked carefully. Han didn't answer for awhile and she almost thought he wasn't going to answer at all.

"I'm too afraid she'll hate me for it," he said quietly. "I'd rather hold her at arms length and be able to be near her, instead of not anywhere near her at all."

"Wow," Mara breathed. "She has feelings for you."

"Everyone has feelings."

"You know what I mean, Solo," Mara said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever," Han shrugged. "What about you and Luke?"

"We're just friends."

"We've covered that base, sister," he told her. Mara bit her lip in thought.

"He makes me feel wanted," she confessed. "No one's ever done that before for me. I was just a tool."

"You worked for the Emperor," he told her. "Of course you were nothing but a tool to him. He's power hungry."

"And I don't know that?" Mara asked, slightly annoyed. "Look, I like Luke okay. A lot. More than I should and if I lost him, I don't know what would happen. I'd go insane or something and become hooked on spice while I travel the Galaxy."

"Don't do spice," Han shook his head. "That stuff messes people up."

"But you see my point," she said. "I probably care about Luke as much as you care about Leia and we are both too afraid of what will happen if we lost them."

"Two peas in a pod, those two," he sighed. "They're so alike and at the same time, totally opposites."

Mara shrugged, and watched Luke's face again. She touched the side of the TaunTaun and was relieved that the animal still held some warmth. She heard a groan and a thump and closed her eyes as she realized her Taun had just died.

"It's not your fault," Han said quietly and she looked up at him. "For the TaunTaun I mean."

"It is," she shrugged. "I just feel bad that these animals lost their lives due to us."

"Circle of life."

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" she grinned and Han laughed and shook his head.

"No, but after I've seen all the stuff you and the kid can do I'm wondering if half the stuff I don't believe in are real."

"Like the Force?"

"Like the Force."

Mara nodded and they slipped into silence for awhile while listening to the storm rage on outside. Luke regained some amount of consciousness and began mumbling things in his sleep again.

"Ben... Ben!" Luke moaned and Han shot the boy a quizzical glance.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Mara asked and Han furrowed his brow in thought.

"If I'm not mistaken, he's talking about that old wizard that Vader cut down on the Death Star," he said, and shook his head again to clear it.

"Kenobi?" Mara asked, remembering the rumors that floated about the Navy and the holonet after the confirmed death of Obi-Wan Kenobi's death.

"I think that's what he said his name was," Han scratched the back of his head as Luke continued to moan and mumble.

"Ben... Yoda... Go to... Dagobah... Dagobah..."

"Any idea about that part?" Han asked with a grin.

Mara shook her head. "None whatsoever. But I'd say this Yoda is on Dagobah... Wherever that is."

"I'd wager it doesn't have a lot of inhabitants if neither or us know what it is."

"You're probably correct." They fell into silence again and remained that way for most of the night, not daring to sleep because of the chance of freezing. The storm let up sometime close to dawn, and once the sun began to rise, so did the temperature. Han fiddled with the comm unit, hoping to be able to pick up a signal from base once they decided to send the search party.

Another half hour after that, the signal came.

"Commander Skywalker, this is Rogue Three, come in. Captain Solo, this is Rogue Three. Come in. Rogue Five, Mara, Come in. This is Rogue Three."

Han jumped to the Comm unit.

"Good morning," Han said, sarcastically to hide the relief he felt. "Nice of you to drop by."

"Stay put, Han," Wedge laughed. "I've got your location."

"'Bout time, Antilles. Send a speeder with Medical Equipment," Han told him.

"Who's injured?"

"Luke," Han said sadly. "We need to get him warm and in some Bacta."

"Right away," Wedge called, and then commed for the med speeder, and it arrived quickly, since the exact location of the three were already known.

They got Luke on the transport and back to base quickly, with Han and Mara following in the speeder behind him.

As they landed in the Hangar Bay, Mara saw Leia run up to them, and stop herself right before she hugged Han, instead clutching at his arm.

"How's Luke, I heard he needed medical attention," Leia asked, worry in her eyes.

"He's okay for now," Mara told her, only half believing it herself. Luke's Force Signature was still strong, but that didn't necessarily mean that he would be alright. "Han and I got to him in time to keep him from freezing."

"Oh, gods," Leia whispered. They rushed off towards the Med Bay where the healers as well as the Med Droids were tending to Luke. By the time they got there, Luke was already stripped and dunked into the Bacta.

Mara gasped at the sight of Luke unconscious in the bluish fluid. She and Leia took up the walls near the tank, trying to stay as far out of the way of those tending to Luke as possible. Han leaned his shoulder against the wall behind Mara and watched the healers tend to Luke.

"Devaad," Leia called out to one of the Healers. The blonde haired, aging man looked up at Leia from his datapad. "How's Luke doing? Will he be alright?"

"It's a little early to tell, but Commander Skywalker's vitals have shown an immediate improvement from when we first dunked him in the Bacta," Devaad told her. "We believe he'll be out of the Bacta within the hour, actually. He only needed enough time to stabilize him, which we've achieved, and time to heal the nasty scratch to his face."

"Oh, thank the Force," Mara smiled. Devaad grinned and nodded to her.

"We'll let you know when he is available to see visitors after we take him out of the Bacta," the healer said, and returned to his work. Han pushed off the wall and started heading towards the exit. Just before he left, he turned to Leia.

"Leia," he called, and she jumped at the sound of him using her real name. She turned and looked at Han. "How about we go to the Mess and get some caffe and real food. Neither of us have slept properly lately."

Leia glanced back at Luke before making her decision. "Alright," she nodded and followed Han out of the Med bay.

Mara watched them leave before looking back at Luke. She almost lost him. Fear stabbed at her heart again and her eyes welled up with unshed tears. A few of the healers left, leaving only Two-Onebee and her alone. Mara walked up to the tank and tried touching Luke's presence in the Force. It glowed brightly and she smiled as a tear slid down her cheek.

Luke's eyes fluttered open and she placed her hand up against the glass. Luke reached out and put his hand against hers and nodded before she felt him probing at her mind.

_I'll be okay._

Mara smiled and nodded at Luke before his hand slipped away from the glass and he fell back into unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>So my favorite part of this chapter is by far the Bacta Tank part. That scene says a lot for our two main characters, and the part right before it says a lot about Han and Leia. I managed to bring both their relationships closer in, what? Four paragraphs? Oh yeah... <strong>

**NEXT CHAPTER: Med bay scene! And the dreaded Probe droid...**

**REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**This is the last of the shorter chapters, I swear! They get longer after this. But this takes us almost all the way up to the battle of Hoth.**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own it... Yada Yada... Dagobah... Yoda... AU part is mine...**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Nine<span>**

"Are you sure you're fine?" Mara asked for the hundredth time and Luke laughed.

"Yes, I'm fine! You need to relax! It takes a lot more than cold to kill me," he teased and Mara shot him an angry look.

"That's not funny, Farmboy, and you know it."

"Fine, I'm sorry," he apologized. "But you really do need to stop fretting."

"Luke, I- We almost lost you," she said, hoping to ignore the slip but luckily Luke didn't seem to catch it.

"A few more hours and I'll be out of here, and everything will be back to normal, I promise," Luke said, and Mara nodded. The door to Luke's med room opened and in walked Leia.

"Hey, Leia," he called and Leia smiled and hugged Luke.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she told him, and Luke smiled.

"What do I keep telling you guys, I'm fine!"

"Sure," Leia nodded. Luke grinned before his expression turned thoughtful. "Leia, I might be leaving soon."

"What?" she cried out. "Why? Are you leaving the Alliance?"

"No, no," Luke consoled her, and Mara stepped forward.

"Why are you leaving? When?" she demanded, and Luke shrank back into his bed slightly.

"I just, there was something, just before I passed out," he started, his expression far away. "Like something out of a dream. I don't know. But I have to seek out a Jedi Master."

"Luke, the Jedi were all wiped out before we were born," Leia told him, and began wondering if he'd bumped his head.

"Ben was a Jedi, some escaped," Luke told her. "But I have to go to Dagobah, I have to at least try."

"Yoda," Mara mumbled and Leia snapped her head to look at the red head.

"You know about him?" Luke asked hopefully.

"No, but you were mumbling about him all last night," she explained. "Over and over, Ben, Yoda, Dagobah."

"Oh," he said, slightly saddened before turning back to Leia. "I don't know how long it will be, but once I'm a Jedi, I'll come back to the Alliance."

"Great," Leia said, pasting on a sarcastic smile. "Just great! Everyone's leaving! First Han, now you! When are you leaving, Mara?"

Mara bit her lip and looked down. "When Luke is."

"What?" Luke asked, suddenly alarmed. "Where to?"

Mara looked at him and took a deep breath. "Dagobah. If I'm going to completely eradicate the dark in me and become a Jedi as well, I could use this Yoda's help too."

"Are you sure? I don't even know if he's still around or if he ever was," he told her hesitantly. "It could just all be a wild Gungan Chase for all I know."

"I don't care," she told him. "I have to try."

"Great!" Leia threw her hands in the air before crossing the room. The door slid open and in came Threepio and Artoo, the latter twittering happily.

"Oh, it's so good to see you fully functional again, sir!" Threepio cried, waving his arms about happily.

"Thanks, Threepio," Luke mumbled, not taking his eyes off Mara. Artoo beeped again, and rolled out from behind Threepio.

"Artoo expresses his feelings also."

"How 'ya doin', Kid?" Han called as he walked in after the droids. Chewie followed, growling happily. "You don't look so bad to me. You look strong enough to pull ears off a Gundark."

"Thanks to you and Mara," Luke told him in a low but thankful tone.

"That's two you owe me, Junior," Han teased, holding up two of his fingers for emphasis. Han then turned around and grinned smugly at Leia. "Well, Your Worship, looks like you've managed to keep me around for a little while longer."

Leia stared at him, arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. "I had nothing to do with that. General Rieekand thinks it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy shield."

"That's a good story," Han said smugly and crossed his arms across his chest. "I think you just can't bare to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."

"I don't know where you get your delusions, Laser-brain," Leia retorted. Mara grinned and looked down to Luke to see that he had a similar expression. Chewie wolfed out a laugh and Han turned and glared at his best friend.

"Laugh it up, Fuzzball," he said, before crossing the room to Leia. "But you didn't see us alone in the South Passage." Han put his arm around Leia's shoulders despite her surprised look. "She expressed her true feelings for me."

Leia snapped her head up at the Smuggler. "My-?" she asked in surprise, and Han began to pull away from her and walk back across the room. "Why you.. Stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking..." she searched for the word. "Nerfhearder!"

Han spun around, offended by the name calling. "Who's scruffy looking?"

Leia breathed angrily, not replying. Han turned around and leaned over to Luke before speaking. "Must've hit it pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, Kid?"

Leia nodded and began walking closer to Han to teach him a lesson before she saw Mara and changed her tactic.

"Well, I guess you don't know everything about women, yet?" she said, and turned and walked out of the doorway to the Luke's room and right into Wedge. She pulled his collar down to her height and kissed him on the lips.

Han looked shocked and Luke dropped his jaw at the audacity of what Leia was doing. He never thought she'd go that far to teach Han a lesson. She broke the kiss with Wedge before glaring once at Han and spinning on her heal and walking down the icy hallway.

Wedge gaped after her, certainly surprised by what had just occurred. He looked into Luke's room and noted the gaping expression of Luke and the slightly annoyed expression of Han.

"I don't want to know," he stated and turned back down the hallway the way he came. Han glanced at Chewie and Mara before turning to Luke.

"Take it easy," he said, and left the room, closely followed by Chewie and the Droids. Once the door shut behind them, Luke and Mara exchanged an amused look before bursting out laughing.

* * *

><p>"Princess," Rieekand called, getting Leia's attention. "We have a visitor."<p>

Leia and Han walked over to the scans of the area where Rieekand was standing.

"We picked up something outside the bases' own twelve moving east."

"It's metal," the officer next to Rieekand stated.

"Then it couldn't be one of those creatures," Leia thought aloud, referring to the creature that Luke described after he'd come to.

"It could be a speeder," Han said, slightly hopeful. "One of ours."

"No," the officer said, then listened to his comm unit at the signal the metal object was omitting. "Wait. There's something very weak coming through."

Everyone listened to the droid language that came over the comm channel, trying to decipher the origin of the object.

"Sir!" Threepio called out. "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication. This signal is NOT used by the alliance. It could be an Imperial code."

Leia's chest tightened as Threepio vocalized what she'd been thinking.

"It isn't friendly, whatever it is," Han said, and began heading for the exit. "C'mon, Chewie. Let's check it out."

* * *

><p>Han and Chewie located the object, and Han furrowed his brow at whatever it was. A droid of some sort, with antenna probably to send back what ever messages it needed.<p>

"Chewie, you go around and distract it, and I'll see if I can immobilize it," Han said quietly, and the wookiee nodded.

As they got in their positions, Chewie cried out and alarms sounded from the droid. Han aimed his gun over the ridge he was hiding behind, as the droid shot at Chewie. Han fired once, and the droid blew up, scattering pieces of debris everywhere.

Han frowned at the sight of the dismantled droid. Leia was _not _going to like this.

Chewie ducked out of his cover and growled out something to Han.

"Yeah, yeah, I've already thought of that," Han dismissed before grabbing his comm unit and reporting to base.

"Echo Seven to Echo Base," he said.

"_Received, did you find the object?" _Leia's voice sounded back.

"Yeah, afraid there's not much left," Han said.

"_What was it?" _

"A droid of some kind. I didn't hit it that hard, must've had a self-destruct."

"_An Imperial Probe Droid,"_ Leia said knowingly.

"There's a good bet the Empire knows we're here," Han sighed, and shook his head. _Shavit._

"_We better start the evacuation," _Rieekand said. _"Solo, you and Chewbacca return to base. You two need to be ready to take off out of here too."_

"Understood, Captain," Han nodded, and waved to Chewie as they started their way back

* * *

><p><strong>Yay for the Probe Droid! Risked its life in the name of our valiant Emperor!<strong>

**Anyways, I hope you guys liked how the Med Bay scene played out. As I've said before, Wedge is Numero Uno. And I couldn't very well have Leia kiss her brother... I mean Luke... without Mara getting angry. **

**NEXT CHAPTER: Battle of Hoth**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay! Chapter Ten! Woo! Longest story I've ever kept with. This deserves a party. I say Disneyland. Who's with me? **

**Haha, all joking aside, I really am happy with this story. You guys make it awesome with your reviews. Seriously. Everyone of them makes me smile and giddy that people are reading this. You rock. And for the sake of a cult movie, 'You go Glenn Coco!' Anyone who gets that gets a high five, though it's not as old as some movies I quote. **

**Now, I'd like to remind everyone that even though I am a huge, HUGE fan of Han/Leia and will read them all the time, I'm not going to be covering their story until we reach Bespin from here out. It'll be strictly Mara/Luke for awhile, which is kinda the point of this story. So when Luke references the Falcon flying away, Leia is on that, just like in ESB. Their story remains the same. **

**DISCLAIMER: You'd think by now it'd be obvious I don't own SW. **

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Ten<span>**

The base was a flurry of movement as half of it focused on evacuating the necessary people and those in Command, while the other half was preparing for the upcoming battle with the Empire.

It was an unspoken rule at the moment that walking was no longer allowed. If you were going somewhere, you ran, because time was freedom. If they failed, the Empire would assume complete, non-rebellious control. And that was not an option for the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Luke ran over towards Han, partially to check how the repairs on the _Falcon_ were and partially in hopes to make sure he'd seem him at the rendezvous.

"Turn it off, turn it off!" Han yelled, as something on the top of the Falcon began smoking. Alarms sounded, but they went mostly unnoticed anyways. Han threw down a toll and crouched to examine the smoking part as Chewie walked down and under the belly of the ship to see the wire panel below.

"Chewie?" Luke called to get the wookiee's attention. Chewie looked up and Luke scratched at his neck where it was sensitive. "Take care of yourself, okay?" As Luke turned to find Han, Chewie enveloped him in a tight hug, growling out words of kindness towards him.

"Hi, Kid," Han called from his spot on the top of the _Falcon_. One of the computing droids wheeled itself over and Han's dislike for droids came through as he spoke to it. "There's gotta be a reason for it. Check it at the other end." The droid twittered to him, and began to roll away. "Wait a second," he told the droid before turning to Luke. "You alright?"

Luke nodded up at him. "Yeah," he mumbled, and started to continue, but then stopped and decided he didn't want to part on harsh words with Han. Instead he just nodded again and began to turn away.

"Be careful," Han called, and worried idly that the Farmboy would do something ridiculous and get himself vaped.

Luke grinned and said, "You too," before turning away from Han and heading towards the speeders. As he walked up, the Rogues awaited orders from both Luke and General Rieekand.

"Any word on when we take off?" Wes asked, and Luke shook his head.

"They'll comm me with battle plans and then we'll take off." Wes nodded and glanced back at Hobbie, who was going over tactics with Mara.

"You flying with Jade?" Wes asked quietly.

"No, Dak and I are flying together, why?" Luke asked and Wes just shrugged.

"Thought you might pair together on this, that's all." Luke nodded, knowing what Wes was getting at, but choosing to ignore it. His comm unit beeped and Luke pulled it out of his pocket. "Skywalker."

"_Luke, we need all the Rogues for a debriefing before the Battle,"_ Leia's voice sounded over the unit. _"Rieekand says that Imperial troops just exited Hyperspace."  
><em>

"We're on our way," Luke said, and returned the unit to his pocket and turned to his crew. "We're needed at the debrief. C'mon."

They started jogging off down the hangar to where they saw the collection of pilots in orange flight-suits stationed. Leia was in the center, ready to give orders and plans.

"We need to divert the Empire long enough to evacuate the base," she said in a commanding tone. "All troop carriers will assemble at the North Entrance. The heavy transport ships will leave as soon as they are loaded. Only two fighter escorts per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transport."

"Two fighters against a star destroyer?" Hobbie asked, almost in disbelief. _Is Command crazy?_

"The ion canon will fire several shots to make sure every enemy ship is out of your flight path," Leia assured. "When you've gotten past the Energy Shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point. Understood?"

The pilots nodded.

Leia threw her hands to the side and sighed. "Good luck."

The Flight Deck officer took over. "Okay, everyone to your stations, let's go!"

With the announcement of the first transport successfully making the jump to Hyperspace, the Hangar was a flurry of excited movement. People running in all directions, pumped for the fight. The Rogues dodged people as they made it to their set of assigned speeders.

As Luke reached his speeder, Dak was already sitting in the back, doing the pre-flight checks. Luke hopped over the side and into the Speeder.

"Feeling alright, sir?" Dak asked, and Luke grinned.

"Just like new, Dak, how about you?"

" Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself!" he said triumphantly.

"I know what you mean," Luke said. As Dak began pulling down the cockpit cover, Luke glanced one last time at Mara, and nodded when he caught her eye. She returned the nod, and then pushed out a message through the force.

_May the Force be with you, Luke._

He grinned and sent a message right back. _You too, Mara. Be safe._

She nodded and, and Hobbie closed the top to their speeder as well. Luke lifted his and Dak's speeder, and they flew out to join the fight.

"Echo station five, seven," Luke called out after receiving the call regarding the Imperial Walkers. "We're on our way. Alright guys, keep tight now."

"Luke!" Dak called frantically from behind him. "I have no approach vector! I'm not set!"

"Steady, Dak," Luke said, a touch of worry in his tone. "Attack pattern Delta."

"Going now," he responded, and began flipping the positioning switches.

The snow speeders flew past the first walker, and hit it with no reaction. They swung around, with Luke in the lead again.

"Alright, I'm coming in," he called, and guided the speeder down, firing, and flying through the legs of the walker. "Hobbie, Mara, you still with me?"

"Yeah," Mara called out over the comm. "We're with you, following in close."

They made several passes on the incoming walkers but each result was the same. Nothing was damaging those walkers.

"That armor is too strong for blasters," Luke called out.

"Thanks, Commander Obvious," Mara rolled her eyes. "What do we do then?"

"Use your harpoons and tow cables," he ordered out. "Go for the legs, it might be our only chance of stopping them."

They swung around again, and Dak fretted again, his nervousness rolling off him in waves. "Luke we have a malfunction in fire control. I'll have to cut in the auxiliary."

Luke gave a worried look, but focused in on flying once more. "Just hang on! Hang on Dak, and get ready to fire that tow cable!"

They were taking hits head on, and the shields were sucking power up trying to deflect them, and failing every so often as they became overwhelmed.

A hit landed on the back controls, and Dak yelled out before slumping over in his seat. Luke flew through the legs of another walker, and glanced back when Dak didn't fire the cable. "Dak? Dak!" He stretched out with the Force for Dak and found nothing. A small bit of guilt fluttered through his chest and wished he'd better prepared the young boy, before returning to the fight.

Wedge pulled up alongside him and Mara, as the three maneuvered towards the walkers once more.

"Rogue Three!" he called out.

"Copy, Rogue leader," Wedge responded.

"Wedge, I've lost my gunner," Luke informed him. "You'll have to take the shot. I'll cover for you."

Wes shook his head from his seat behind Wedge at the loss of Dak, before preparing to launch the tow cables.

"Set your harpoon," Luke told them. "Follow me on the next path." The three ships flew in and Luke distracted the walkers with intense firing as Wedge guided the speeder around the legs.

"Coming around Rogue Leader!" Wedge announced, and they shot the harpoon at the walker before flying circles. Luke and Mara broke away from the circle and prepared to come back to finish the walker off.

"Cable out, let her go!" Wes called from the back seat and Wedge pulled away from the walker. They watched as it fell to the ground, nose fist, crippled.

Mara and Luke guided their speeders back over the now shield-less walkers, and fired, causing an explosion.

"Yeah!" Wedge yelled out. "That got him!"

"Good work, you guys," Luke praised. Luke headed his speeder in towards another walker, as other speeders fell from the sky around him. "How's everyone doing?"

"Hobbie and I are taking a lot of hits," Mara said. "Our shields won't hold out much longer."

"Wes and I are in the same boat," Wedge said. "Luke, we gotta do this."

"I know," Luke said. "I'm going in for another round on the walkers. You hang back."

"Luke, don't be a hero," Mara chastised.

"I'm not looking to be a hero, I'm looking to take out the walkers," he told her. "My shields are mostly intact."

"A shot hit Dak, it could hit you," she scolded.

"And Darth Vader's my father," Luke said sarcastically. "Just hang back, I'll be fine."

He guided his speeder closer, and noticed Mara's speeder trailing him. "Hang back!"

"No, Hobbie is in agreement with me."

"This is a direct order, Jade," Luke commanded.

"Mara, just pull back," Wedge told her, and he heard Mara grunt angrily over the comm. He saw her speeder pull away from his and focused back in the fight. A shot clipped his electronics and send everything sparking.

"Guys, I've been hit," he called out.

"Dammit, Farmboy!" Mara yelled.

"Get to the rendezvous!" he called out, and prepared for crash landing. He hit the snow with a thud, jerking him back and forth. He pushed the top of the speeder open and saw the oncoming walker headed straight for him.

Widening his eyes, he quickly turned and grabbed the the ascension gun from the back, and jumped out of the way just in the time for the walker to crush the speeder under it's massive foot.

"Luke!" Mara called out over the comm as she watched his speeder crushed under the foot of the walker.

"Mara! He's fine, look!" Wedge called as they swung around the walker that crushed the speeder. Sure enough, she saw Luke running alongside the walker.

"What's he doing?" she asked.

"I don't know," Wedge said. "But they've just ordered a retreat. We're heading to the X-Wings now."

"What about Luke?"

"He'll be fine," Wedge assured her. "He always gets out of tight spots."

Mara bit her lip as she watched the walker they'd been passing explode and Luke running by it. The sight made her grin slightly and she flew off towards the X-Wings. They landed the speeders at the designated camp away from the battle field and prepared their X-Wings in a flurry of movement.

Mara ran over to her X-Wing and was pleased to note Luke's was parked just a few feet away from hers, Artoo tending to the engine and preparing it for take off. She turned to her own droid, who was working furiously to prepare her ship as well.

"Desix," she called and the little domed droid twittered. "Prepare the ship, and find the coordinates for Dagobah."

It whirled in an affirmative, and Mara scanned the horizon for any sign of Luke. She knew he was still alive; his presence was still glowing vibrantly in the Force.

Luke crested the hill over the base, and smiled slightly as the X-Wing camp came into view. Every few moments another ship would take off for the skies, headed for the opposite side of the planet away from the blockade.

A loud roaring sounded behind him and he turned, a pit of happiness in his stomach as he saw the _Falcon _fly away from the base safely. At least Han and Chewie got out of there, and with any luck, Leia caught her transport as well, though he didn't think Han would let her miss it.

Luke stumbled down the ridge, walking awkwardly in the snow. He reached flat ground and ran for his X-Wing, pleased to see Artoo had everything ready for him to take off.

"Artoo!" he called out, waving to the small blue astromech. "Get her ready for takeoff!"

"Farmboy!" Mara called and Luke turned to see her leaning against her ship, helmet off and under her arm.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked, walking up to her.

"Waiting for your sorry butt," she grinned. "Had to make sure you got out of here alive, Commander."

"Mara, you need to get to the Rendezvous," he said seriously. "Now. We can't risk the Empire ambushing us."

"I'm not going to the Rendezvous, Luke," she said. "I'm going with you to Dagobah."

"No you're not," he shook his head.

"Look, you can't stop me once I'm in the sky anyway," she said. "If there is a Jedi Master out there, then I think I deserve to at least learn something from him."

Luke inhaled deeply, and looked off towards the horizon before releasing his breath in a huff. She was right. She deserved to learn as much as she could to become a Jedi.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go."

Mara grinned and nodded, before clamoring up the ladder to the cockpit of her X-Wing. Luke ran off and did the same, shutting the roof to the fighter. He glanced at Mara as she maneuvered the fighter to take off.

He hit the thrusters and headed for the sky, and into the quiet vacuum of space. Artoo twittered uncertainly from his seat in the back of the fighter.

"We're not meeting up with the others, Artoo," Luke told him. "We're going to Dagobah."

Artoo whirled worriedly, but remained silent as they made the jump to Hyperspace, Mara following soon after.

* * *

><p><strong>Dagobah! We're going to Dagobah! I love Yoda. He's one of my favorite characters, and I can't wait for their training. I think the only time I don't like Yoda is in TPM. And that's pretty much only because the puppet was weird looking. I don't know what happened but that was a fail. But, despite much controversy, I actually really love the CGI Yoda. I'm kinda rooting that they'll CGI over TPM Yoda for Blu-Ray. (Blu-Ray! I can't wait!) <strong>

**So yeah. Um, I also have some mildly horrible news for you guys. My writing muse is kinda run off to France or Brazil or Los Angeles since it's closer, so I'll be doing my best to get the next chapter out on schedule, but if I don't I'm sorry. This was the last complete chapter I had saved. I think alot of it is just the hassel of opening up the movie and using it to match the dialogue. Because even though I pretty much know every line to it, I still want to get the wording exact because it kinda bugs me when authors don't.**

**So, I'll be doing my best to finish the next chapter today and tomorrow so I can have it ready on time. Fingers crossed. Oh, and not to sound petty, but reviews are the biggest motivator ever. So review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**What do you know? I got the chapter out on time! And my muse returned! Hot damn! I think it's just the constant flipping between the movie and Open Office (Which is just as good as Word if you're curious) that kills my muse. Sends it straight to Sith Hell! **

**Anyways, Reading back over this chapter to correct and edit it this morning, I decided I liked it a lot more than I had previously. It's almost 3000 words, so we're getting back up there in Word Count per Chapter. Which is good for you guys. **

**And to my Darling Sister Max, if you review in Yoda Speak one more time, your laptop is going to be mysteriously lacking copies of Star Wars and Fanboys. **

**DISCLAIMER: I honestly don't know why I bother with these anymore. Everyone already knows who owns Star Wars. **

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Eleven<span>**

Luke exited Hyperspace with a slight jolt, and was relieved to see Mara's ship appear on the scanners as her ship exited as well.

"There's Dagobah," Luke said quietly.

"_Anyone else have a moment of 'Surprise! There's a planet here!'?" _Mara asked over the comm. Luke grinned.

"No, but I'll probably have that reaction when we reach Yoda," he told her and Artoo chuckled electronically. "I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life form readings though."

"_Well let's just hope they're the vegetarian kind of life forms,"_ Mara said sarcastically. _"After today, the only thing that could make it worse is being eaten alive."_

"I hear you there," Luke smiled. Artoo twittered in a worried tone, and Luke laughed. "Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids."

Artoo let out an electronic equivalent to a sigh as they began their decent. The turbulence in the clouds shook Luke's ship violently, and Artoo beeped panicking.

"I know, I know," he cried out, trying to get some reading on any of the scanners. "All the scopes are dead, I can't see a thing!"

"_Luke, you okay?"_ Mara asked worriedly, not having much issue with her ship.

"I'm coming in blind," he told her, still trying to get a reading. "I'm going to start the landing cycle."

Luke maneuvered his ship best he could through the thick fog, hitting stray vines and branches on his way down. The ground suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the belly of the X-Wing shrieking as it scraped the ground, sliding into the murky water of a lake. Luke sighed as the ship came to a stop.

"_Luke, you okay?" _Mara called out over the comm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, popping the top to his X-Wing and wincing as the humidity rushed into the tiny cockpit. He looked over to the shore where Mara was getting out of her own ship, jumping down onto the swampy ground. She looked up at Luke and grinned.

"What's wrong, Farmboy?" she smirked. "Never land a ship before?"

"Hardy, har, Jade," he rolled his eyes. He balanced himself as he walked down the nose of his fighter, and then looked around at the murky planet.

Artoo beeped out a question and Luke glanced back at his trusty Astromech.

"No, Artoo, you stay put. Mara and I will have a look around," Luke said, pulling off his helmet. The ship shifted and Luke almost lost his balance into the water. Artoo let out a small scream as he fell into the water.

"Artoo?" he called out, rushing towards the area the droid fell in. "Artoo!"

"Luke, can you see him?" Mara called out from the shore, and Luke grit his teeth.

"No," he said. "Artoo! Where are you?" He scanned the foggy water for a few more moments before Artoo's optical neck flew up above the water. The droid twittered happily as it looked around the surface of the water. Luke sighed at his droid's antics.

"You be more careful," he said in a disapproving voice. Artoo merely sang out happily, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Artoo," Luke called calmly. The droid turned towards him and Luke pointed towards the shore. "That way."

Artoo beeped and Luke stood up, tossing the discarded helmet into the cockpit of his ship. He walked down the nose of the ship once again and jumped into the water to get to the shore.

"Luke, there's something in the water," Mara called out and Luke looked up.

"Yeah, I know," he nodded. "Pesky droid. I swear-"

"No, I mean something native," she said, and pointed towards where Artoo's optical neck sat above the fog. A large, dark back to a creature crested the murky Lake, headed straight for the droid. Luke clamored up the side of the shore, clinging to roots before glancing at where Mara was pointing. His eyes widened as he saw the creature headed for the droid.

"Artoo!" he called out, as the droid disappeared under the water once more. Luke pulled out his blaster to aim at the creature, but it went under the surface of the water once more. Luke glanced around, scanning the top of the water for any signs of his droid.

Mara bit her lip as they waited for something—anything to show up. It was a quiet few moments, before Luke ran in the direction of where the droid was heading in the first place. He stood there on the edge of the water, blaster ready. A loud growl sounded from below the water, and Artoo was thrown through the air with an electronic scream before landing amongst the roots and vines.

"Artoo!" Mara called out, running towards where the droid had landed. Luke took off running as well, reaching his astromech first and righting it back on it's feet.

"You were lucky to get out of there," Luke grunted as he moved the droid. The swamp and dirt covered droid whimpered sadly. "Anything broken?"

Artoo beeped a negative as Mara arrived and crouched down to the droid's level.

"Maybe coming here was a bad idea," she mused, and Artoo whirled in agreement.

"I'm beginning to agree with you," Luke sighed. "I don't know." He stood up and looked out into the jungle-like swamp. "It's like... Something out of a dream. Maybe I'm just going crazy?"

"You're not crazy, Luke," Mara told him, dodging the oily water Artoo spewed from a flap. "Listen to the Force surrounding this place. It's alive, teeming with life. We were meant to come here."

"I hope you're right," Luke nodded, sitting down on a log next to Artoo.

* * *

><p>Mara fiddled with the light on lantern as Luke returned to their camp with the last of the supplies from his X-Wing. Between the two of them, they had enough rations to last a month and a half, as well as enough power to light their lantern for three months. Hopefully they could find Yoda before then.<p>

"That's the last of it," Luke sighed as he sat down on the ground and placed his pack next to him. He turned to Artoo who was sitting next to Desix plugged into the generator.

"You all right?" Mara asked, and he turned back to her and smiled slightly.

"Yeah," he said and nodded, before frowning slightly. "There's just... something about this place. I just feel like-"

"Feel like what?" a rough voice asked from behind and Luke and Mara spun with their blasters out and pointed at the intruder.

"Like I'm being watched," Luke finished, his eyes narrowing slightly at the small green creature. It was cowering behind it's cane and robes, and peeked out slightly to reveal large almond eyes.

"Away put your weapon! I mean you no harm!" he cried out, and Luke and Mara lowered their blasters slightly. "I am wondering, why are you here?"

"We're looking for someone," Mara said, as she eyed the creature.

"Looking? Found someone, I would say you have!" the creature said, and then cackled out a laugh.

"Right," Luke said uneasily, placing his blaster back in its holster.

"Help you I can, yes, hmm," the creature nodded.

"I don't think so," Mara said.

"We're looking for a great warrior," Luke explained. The creature stood up and laughed.

"Oh! Great Warrior," he mused, and began walking towards them with his cane. "Wars not make one great."

Luke stared at the interesting creature, as it hobbled over to their open pack of rations curiously. It picked up a ration stick and eyed it for a second.

"Put that down," Luke scolded, as the creature took a bite. "Hey! That's my dinner!"

The creature looked up at Luke as he snatched the ration stick out of his hands. Luke closed the box where the sticks lied and moved it over to another crate.

"How you get so big, eating food of this kind?" the creature asked, and clamored onto the table the sticks were previously.

"Listen, little friend, I didn't mean to land at that puddle and if I could get my ship out I would," Luke said, glancing at Mara who was smiling amusedly at Luke. "But I can't, so why don't you just-"

"Aw! I get your ship out," the creature said, and Luke glanced up to see him rifling through another box.

"Hey, get out of there!" Luke called and Mara chuckled quietly, thoroughly enjoying the show. "Mara, a little help?"

"You've got it covered, Skywalker," she laughed and Luke shot her and angry look before snatching something out of the little green creature's hand.

"Oh! No," the creature moaned, and returned to rifling through the box.

"Hey, you could have broken this!" Luke complained and the creature merely grunted at him before tossing various items over his shoulder and into the swampy camp.

"Don't do that," Luke sighed, and began picking up the various objects on the ground.

"Aha!" the creature announced and let out another laugh as it began waving a light around, almost playing with it.

"Oh, you're making a mess," Luke said, and Mara laughed.

"Too good to play house keeper, Farmboy?" she smiled.

"As a matter of fact, Jade," he grumbled, standing up again and turning to the creature. "Hey," he sighed and reached to grab the light from the creature.

"Mine!" the creature yelled, holding the light away from Luke. "Or I will help you not!"

"I don't want your help! _We_," Luke said, gesturing to him and Mara, "don't want your help! I want my light back. I'm gonna need it to get out of this slimy mud hole."

"Mud hole!" The creature asked, offended. Artoo opened the flap on the front of his casing and out stretched a little hand reaching for the light. "Slimy? My home this is!"

Artoo latched onto the light and began pulling the light away from the creature who struggled with the droid for it. He reached onto the table and grabbed his cane before repeatedly beating Artoo with it crying over and over, "Mine!"

"Oh, Artoo, let the little guy have it," Mara smiled, leaning back next to Desix.

"Mine! Mine! Mine!"

"Artoo!" Luke called, and the droid finally released his grip. "Can you move along, little fellow? We've got a lot of work to do."

"No! Ah, no, no," the creature cried out, hobbling closer to Luke before looking up at him. "Stay and help you, I will! Find your friend, hmm?"

"I'm not looking for a friend," Luke explained. "I'm looking for a Jedi Master."

The creature's eyes widened in realization. "Ooohhh, Yoda, you seek Yoda!"

"You know him?" Mara asked, leaning in towards the creature.

"Mm,hmmm," the creature grunted. "Take you to him I will." The creature looked at Luke carefully before laughing once more. "Yes, yes, but now, we must eat! Come!"

Luke and Mara watched as the tiny creature turned and began hobbling out of the camp. "Good food," he laughed, making his way off into the vines. "Come!"

Luke and Mara exchanged a glance before she shrugged and stood up to follow the creature. Luke stood as well, but didn't follow immediately. Mara glanced back and nodded her head in the creature's direction before turning to follow once more. Luke shook his head and followed after them, glancing back briefly at Artoo and Desix, who were chattering amongst themselves.

* * *

><p>The thunder rumbled again outside the small, short hovel. Mara flinched slightly when a small drop got through the roof and landed on her shoulder, seeping through and immediately and chilling her. She heard Artoo whimper as he looked into the window and she smiled weakly at the astromech. Desix, having less of a personality than Artoo, had shut down outside the entrance to the hovel, leaving Artoo alone.<p>

"Look, I'm sure it's delicious, but I just don't understand why we can't see Yoda now," Luke argued with the green creature again who was forcing dinner upon them. Mara smiled from her spot up against the wall as Luke was hunched over at the waist, providing her with an excellent view of his backside.

"Patience!" the creature scolded. "For the Jedi it is time to eat as well!"

Luke huffed and threw her a disbelieving glance before heading towards the fire where a small pot rested. Mara was already picking at her own... soup. She'd probably be sneaking rations when the creature wasn't looking later.

Luke spooned the soup into his own bowl, testing some on his tongue for taste and flinching before returning some soup to the pot.

"Good food, hmm?" the creature asked in his rough voice.

"How far away is Yoda? Will it take us long to get there?"

"Not far, Yoda not far," the creature laughed. "Patience. Soon, you will be with him." The creature began spooning his own food into a bowl and Luke scooted closer to Mara to give him room, pushing his soup around the bowl disgustedly. "Why wish you become Jedi, hm,mmm? You both seek the wisdom of Yoda?"

"I was trained in an unconventional way," Mara explained, trying to phrase it without citing the Emperor. "I want to be trained properly in the light side."

"Honorable, that is," the creature nodded, eating his own soup happily. "What about you?" he asked, gesturing to Luke.

"Mostly because of my father, I guess," Luke shrugged.

"Ah! Father!" the creature laughed. "Powerful Jedi was he. Mmm, powerful Jedi."

"Come on," Luke rolled his eyes. "How could you know my father? You don't even know who I am! Oh, I don't even know what I'm doing here! We're wasting our time! Luke tossed his empty bowl off to the side and Mara put a reassuring hand on his knee. Luke glanced up at her and sighed, calming down.

"I cannot teach him," the creature said quietly, and Mara watched him curiously. "The boy has no patience."

Luke glanced at the creature as the people in the hovel all heard an echoey voice.

"_He will learn patience." _Luke's eyes widened as he recognized the voice, a thrill of excitement at the prospect of his old master being there.

"Much anger in him," the creature turned and looked at Luke. "Like his father."

"_Was I any different when you taught me?"_ the voice asked again.

"No, he is not ready," the creature said gruffly.

"Yoda," Luke breathed, and Mara's eyes widened as she realized this was the Jedi Master they were looking for. The creature nodded once, confirming Luke's thoughts.

"I, I am ready!" Luke announced, looking around and back at the Jedi Master. "Ben! I can be a Jedi! "Ben tell him I'm-" Luke stopped as he hit his head on the roof of the short hovel.

"Ready are you?" Yoda snapped, glancing between the two of them. "What knows you ready? For _Eight Hundred_ years, have I trained Jedi. My own council, will I keep, on who is to be trained. The Jedi must have the deepest commitment. The most serious mind." Yoda paused and looked away before speaking again. "This one, a long time have I watched. Always as he looked away! To the future, to the horizons." Luke looked down almost ashamedly and Yoda poked him with his cane to emphasize his next statement. "Never on where he was! What he was doing. Adventure, heh! Excitement, heh! A Jedi craves not, these things. You are reckless!"

"_So was I, if you remember,"_ the voice announced. Mara watched quietly from her spot on the wall, almost forgotten by the others in the hovel. She wondered idly if Luke was going to blow her chance to train as well, before squashing that thought. She shouldn't blame him. He just wanted the only connection to his father he had left.

"He is too old!" Yoda called to the ceiling. "Yes. They are too old to begin the training!"

"But I've learned so much," Luke said and looked up at Mara, gesturing between them. "_We've_ learned so much!"

Yoda looked down in thought and sighed. He glanced to the ceiling again and asked, "Will he finish what he begins?"

"I won't fail you," Luke pleaded.

"I won't either, Master Yoda," Mara agreed and Yoda glanced at her before turning back to Luke.

"I'm not afraid," Luke said firmly.

"You will be," Yoda threatened. "You will be."

* * *

><p><strong>So Yoda has been introduced! Yay! Next chapter will take place the day after this. I'm thinking about three or four chapters on Dagobah before Luke gets the vision of Han and Leia. Just to give you a perspective of where this is going. I'm actually loving writing Yoda. Although I think I'm writing him more somber like in the prequels than his cookiness from his first scene. He almost reminds me of a depressed person at times in this movie. Which, he might be. He was in solitude for twenty-two years, and he lost any friends he had with the Jedi. It's no secret that he and Mace Windu were the most respected on the Council, and were pretty much always seen together. <strong>

**Anyways. That's besides the point. **

**Look for the next update on Tuesday! Until then, MTFBWY!**

**And Max, I won't put new copies on your laptop. You will be fanboy-less. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve is here! This is one of my favorite chapters. Same as Chapter Six, which if you don't remember, was Mara's interrogation. Something about multiples of sixes. We'll have to wait for Chapter Eighteen to confirm this theory...**

**DISCLAIMER: Yada, yada, Dagobah... Ben, Ben! Yoda... Own none of it I do... Dagobah...**

**(My failed attempt at mocking a delirious Luke)**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Twelve<span>**

The rain had broken overnight, leaving the following morning foggy and humid, as was per usual on the swampy planet of Dagobah. Though Luke and Mara had crashed on the floor of Yoda's small hovel the night before, plans were already being put in place to set up the tents for the remainder of their stay.

Mara opened her eyes slowly against the low lighting of the hovel and grinned at the warmth of the fire. Last night had been cold due to the storm, especially on the hard stone floor, but this morning seemed to be pleasant so far. She opened her eyes a little more and glanced at the stove area to check if Yoda had already tended to the fire or not.

Her heart froze as she realized there was no fire. She panicked slightly before she realized the source of the warmth surrounding her. Luke's long muscular arm was draped over her waist, hugging her to him. She froze for a moment before relaxing into the embrace and taking advantage of it.

His arm tightened slightly around her and she felt Luke dip his head into her hair and moan. He was starting to wake up. In a few short seconds, it would all be over. Mara closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep so she and Luke wouldn't have to have an awkward moment.

"I know you're not asleep," he mumbled into her hair. She tensed again and sighed, rolling over onto her back to look at his face. Luke's eyes were closed, but he was still smiling, his arm remaining across her waist.

"Do you?" she teased, grinning ear to ear. Luke chuckled slightly before nodding.

"You think loudly," he whispered. Mara's eyes widened as she realized everything that he could have overheard from her.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered, and Luke opened his eyes to see the fear in hers. He propped himself up onto an elbow and looked down at her.

"Hey, calm down," he comforted. "I was just joking. I can only ever get emotions from you. Not concrete thoughts, don't worry."

She sighed and closed her eyes, her cheeks hot with embarrassment. "Luke, I think we should get up."

He swallowed heavily and nodded, extracting his arm from her waist. Guilt coursed through him as he realized he'd overstepped a boundary. He mentally cursed at himself for being so stupid. _Of course she's worried about you hearing her thoughts, Skywalker! She used to have little to no privacy with the Emperor in her head!_

Mara stood and grabbed her jacket off a chair, careful not to bump her head on the low ceiling. She slipped it on and tugged on her boots, not bothering with the straps.

Luke watched her in her small white tank-top before she covered herself with her jacket. It unnerved him how a simple lightweight shirt after so long on an icy planet could set his veins on fire.

As Mara crawled out of the hovel and into the morning light, Luke tugged his own boots on and grabbed his own jacket, taking the time to rake his hands through his long unruly hair. He was avoiding Mara, and he knew it. He needed to separate himself from her if they were going to be able to remain friends without any awkward feelings that weren't reciprocated. He crawled out of the hovel and into the foggy morning. Mara was leaning her back against the side of the home, her head looking straight up into the foggy sky as she scrubbed her face with her hands.

Luke watched her for a moment, then laughed when he'd spotted her messy flame red hair.

Mara's eyes snapped to his and she raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"Your hair looks like you were flying through Beggars Canyon at 200 Clicks an hour," he teased.

"I don't know what Beggars Canyon is, but my hair brush is at the camp we set up last night."

Luke laughed again, not bothering to try and describe the local Tatooine Canyon that was home to some of the social races he and Biggs used to have.

"Where's Yoda?" he asked and Mara shrugged.

"Beats me," she said and scanned the outlying trees. "He's not in the hovel, and he's not out here."

"Trust your eyes too much, you do," Yoda called and Luke and Mara spun around to see the small Jedi Master sitting on a rock with his eyes closed. "Been here this whole time I have."

"Oh," Mara said simply, not quite sure how to respond. Yoda opened his eyes and stood up from his rock, using his cane to steady him as he stepped down from the rock and hobbled forward to them.

"Many things we need to discuss," he announced, stopping as he reached the other side of the small hovel. "The code, your training, and your living location. Stay in my home, you cannot. Much to small for you it is, hm,mmm, much too small. People as big as you deserve taller housing."

"We have tents, Master," Luke said. "Back at the camp you found us at."

"Waterproof they are?"

"Yes," Mara nodded. "And they are insulated to withstand any climate."

"Insulated, you will not need," Yoda told them, and began heading towards their camp from the night before. "It is very hot and humid, almost too much for tastes of outsiders."

Yoda stopped suddenly, only having traveled a couple hundred yards from his home. "Too old for this, I am. Get your things yourself and return back here you will."

At that he turned and began hobbling back towards his home. Luke glanced at Mara and she shrugged, heading back towards the camp. He followed and they walked in silence until they reached camp.

The bins were waterproof, so they didn't have to worry about the contents being ruined. However they left one of the two lamps on overnight, shorting the fuel cell when the water leaked in.

"Did the rations make it?" Luke called over to Mara, tossing the shorted lamp into an open box.

"Looks like it," she answered and Luke grinned.

"Thank the Force, I don't know if we'd survive on Yoda's food."

"Yeah, really," she laughed and stacked the containers up onto each other for easier carrying. It only took two trips to move everything closer to Yoda's home, and they had their tents set up side by side in under an hour after that. Over all they'd made a decent camp for themselves, the only issue being the occasional snake that crawled on their boxes. Yoda had assured them they were harmless, but that didn't mean either Luke or Mara enjoyed the prospect of having one as a roommate.

"Completed your camp, I see," Yoda announced, hobbling over towards them from his home. He stopped and crawled up onto one of the containers as he had the night before and sat there looking at them. Luke took a seat on the ground next to Mara, leaning against some other boxes and they looked to the Jedi Master.

"Much to discuss, have we," Yoda sighed, closing his eyes. "Dark times these are, very dark."

"We want to become Jedi to change that, Master Yoda," Mara said, and Yoda looked to her.

"Unconventional teachings you said," the Jedi said. "Very unconventional. The Dark Side I still sense in you. Eradicate it you must, if a Jedi you are to become."

"The Emperor stole me from birth, Master, I had no choice," she said, hurt in her eyes.

"A choice you always have," he sighed. "But understandable your dilemma is."

Mara nodded and smiled slightly that small green Jedi was still able to accept her and would train her.

"Many things we need to discuss," he said again. "The Code. Powerful code it is to live by. Helped many Jedi for thousands of years. Help you now, it will."

Luke and Mara stared at the Jedi while he sighed again, thinking of the days where the Jedi were a strong order, and the darkside never clouded things.

"First thing you must learn, control you emotions you must," Yoda said, looking at Luke in particular. "Downfall it was to Vader. Follow the code he did not. Broke it, he did. Felt he was above the code, he did. He was not.

"The second, attachments," the Jedi Master eyed them both. "Much Attachment I see in you. Attachment to friends. To each other."

Mara glanced at Luke and saw he was looking back at her curiously. He turned back to Yoda.

"Master, we're friends, and our friends make us stronger," Luke said.

"Your friends make you rash, they do," Yoda chastised. "Separate destinies you and your friends lie. You two, similar destiny, but different paths all the same."

He sighed again and closed his eyes.

"Lying to yourselves you are."

"About what?" Mara asked hesitantly.

"If you do not know, only proves my point that does," Yoda grumbled and pointed to her.

"With all due respect, Master, how can we change it if we do not know what you are referencing?" Luke asked.

"Discover that on your own, you must."

Mara rolled her eyes and eyed a snake slithering closer to camp. Luke huffed and shook his head.

"Patience, Skywalker," Yoda ordered. "Just like your father, you are. Good intentions, but no patience. When you are calm, you will see. Now, your training. Physical and Mental it is. Near here, a stream there is. Run along it you must until reach the fork you shall. Then run back here and eat together we will."

Luke and Mara stood and the Jedi Master pointed towards a break in the trees that led to the stream. The two started walking towards it when Yoda spoke again.

"Run! Train you will not, if walking is all you do."

Mara grinned and took off running, Luke hot on her heals.

"Bet I can beat you, Farmboy!" she called and Luke gritted his teeth.

"Like to see you try, Jade," he smirked and pushed himself further with the help of the Force.

As the disappeared through the trees, Yoda shook his head slowly.

"Hope for the galaxy, this may be," he mumbled to himself. "But worry I do."

"Come on, Farmboy!" Mara taunted, one step ahead of Luke. "You gonna let a girl beat you?"

"No way, Jade!" he threw back at her, kicking off from a rock and grabbing a branch, effectively swinging himself over her.

"That's cheating, Skywalker," she grumbled.

"Yoda never said anything against it," he laughed, pushing himself into the run.

"That's because Yoda doesn't know you're a cheat!"

"You wound me," he laughed, clutching his heart in mock offense. They continued their run, until Luke skidded to a stop at the fork Yoda had mentioned. Mara nearly plowed into him, spinning her body to avoid his and inertia carried her back straight into a tree. She coughed as the wind was knocked out of her.

"You okay?" Luke asked, gaining his footing and walking closer to her.

"You need brake lights," she said, pushing off the tree.

"Sorry," he said. "I wasn't expecting that stream to fork so quickly."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved dismissively, taking a seat on a fallen log. Her head fell forward as she panted. Luke huffed and took a seat next to her.

"I vote we don't race back," he grinned. She looked at him before laughing.

"No, I don't think we should."

Luke stared at her for a moment, noticing how beautiful she looked with a slight sheen of sweat on her. It made her... glow.

"What are you staring at, Farmboy?" she asked and Luke's head snapped forward.

"Nothing," he stammered, heart pounding a million miles an hour. He couldn't help but remember the precarious position they'd woken up in and how neither of them seemed to complain.

"Sure seems like nothing," she smiled crookedly, and Luke glanced at her with a similar smile.

"You're right," he nodded. "It was definitely more than nothing."

The way he stared into her eyes sent a flutter in her stomach. And that flutter terrified her to the bone.

"We better get going," she said, standing up. "Yoda's expecting us."

"Right," he nodded, hurt and rejection flowing through him before he quashed them. Mara felt like crying as she felt the emotions flow off him.

"Let's go," Luke said, a bright smile on his face again, replacing any pain that had once marred his delicate boyish features.

"Alright," she smiled and nodded, running back down the path they came, Luke right next to her side. Where she felt he belonged.

"Took you so long, what did?" Yoda asked harshly as they returned. "Old I may be, but forever I do not have."

"Sorry, Master," Luke apologized and bowed slightly. Yoda gruffed and hobbled back towards the containers that made up their camp.

"Practice your meditation skills, you will," he said. "Important skills to have for a Jedi. Release anger, emotion into the Force. Centers your mind. Gives you focus. Focus, you need, if a powerful Jedi you are to become."

Yoda sat upon the crates again, and Luke and Mara returned their positions on the ground in front of him.

"Relax your mind, close your eyes," he commanded. "Calm your thoughts. When you are at peace, you will see. Focus on things that relax you. Bring you peace and happiness."

Luke thoughts immediately drifted to the fiery beauty that sat next to him. He tried to push thoughts of her out of her head, but her eyes kept forcing their way to the forefront of his mind. Finally, he conceded, and the immediate calm that slipped over his body sunk him deeper into the Force.

"Focus on others, you should not," Yoda scolded. "Dependent on attachments you are. If they are not available, weak, you will be."

"But what if they're always there?" Mara asked, and Luke had to wonder what she was thinking about for her meditation.

"Always in motion the future is. Never certain, things are."

Mara bit her lip and nodded at the Jedi, though their eyes were all closed and unable to see it.

Luke focused on the jade irises again, his lips parting slightly as he relaxed.

"Focusing, you are not, Skywalker," Yoda gruffed. "Listen to the Force, not your thoughts, you must. Betray you, they do."

Luke's eyes snapped open to find the green master sitting staring at him with a knowing look on his face. Yoda's eyes drifted to Mara and then back to him, signaling he knew just what Luke was thinking about.

Yoda closed his eyes again, and the three slipped back into the meditation for a little longer before Yoda spoke of breakfast.

"Believe it is time to eat, I do," Yoda sighed. He slid off the box. "Hungry I am. Eat your own food you may, as my food, not liked by humans it is."

The Jedi chuckled and crawled inside the little hovel as Mara opened up the box containing the rations. She handed Luke one and he thanked her before taking a bite.

"So," he grinned, and she looked at him. "What were you thinking about for the meditation?"

Mara blushed and took another bite of her ration stick. "Depends, what were you thinking about?"

Luke blushed as well and looked off towards Yoda's hovel. Smoke billowed out of the tiny chimney, mixing in with the ever present fog of the planet.

"Depends," he said. "How about we both agree to tell each other?"

"Mine's embarrassing," she said. "Yoda was picking on me."

Luke paused as he looked at her. Yoda was picking on her? He'd merely assumed that when Yoda had spoken, it was of him, not Mara. He'd never even considered that Mara might have been clinging to attachments as well.

"Come on, it can't be that bad!" Luke laughed, trying to cover up his panic. Mara had felt a slight hint of it, but had ignored it, choosing not to delve deeper into Luke for the cause.

"It is," she said. "Tell me yours first."

Luke looked down and off into the swamp. He watched the fog swirl around the trees with the gentle air current.

"Dagobah to Skywalker, come in Skywalker," Mara teased. He looked back at her and smiled. "Where'd you go just now?"

"Just thinking," he shook his head. "Maybe it's best we keep our meditative thoughts to ourselves."

Mara's smiled faltered slightly before broadening again. She tilted her head slightly, her red hair falling over her shoulder and fanning out.

"I think that's probably best," she grinned. They lapsed into silence, quietly finishing their meal.

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><p><strong>Finally! Is anyone else with me? They are finally really starting to get some heavy feelings for each other. And I have been waiting for Yoda's talk on attachments forever. It was one of my first plot ideas of 'This has to Happen'. Unfortunately, it's taken me nearly a month to get here because I can't write things out of order. Apparently that's how Stephanie Meyer wrote Twilight, and we saw how well that plays out. Fantastic book until you turn fourteen and realize how naive and obsessive the characters are. <strong>

**She is not my role model. **

**So, not to sound like Stephanie Meyer or anything, but I actually had a dream that vaguely followed this plot. It was Mara/Luke, and was I'm sure this story. But it focused on what's to come (Bespin, RotJ) and now I'm super pumped. I have some fantastic ideas-a-brewin for this. **

**And, now, because I apparently love to talk, I'm going to try and explain my writing method. The majority of my stories spawn from either a piece of dialogue in my head or a hugely abstract idea. This one came as an abstract idea: Mara is a Rebel. The particular scenes that I see in my head for this spawn from imagined dialogue. Hence the comment of Yoda's talk on Attachments from the first paragraph of this AN. I imagine a snippet of dialogue here, a snippet there, and then I formulate the plan to get there. It made my Han/Carbonite decision (which you'll have to see how that plays out), and it also made my decision as to how Mara is interrogated (Chapter Six). Sometimes I see scenes and images, and I formulate the dialogue from there. It's an old process for me, but it helps me keep things realistic, (or as realistic as you can get in a Galaxy Far, Far Away) and things seem natural. (Again, Galaxy Far, Far Away)**

**And finally (Yeah I know. You guys just sighed a huge sigh of relief or have skipped over this.) I have figured out exactly how I want this to end. I don't know whether or not I'll do a sequel. It depends on how this closes. Whether I leave a huge opening or not. I'll keep you posted. **

**NEXT CHAPTER: Training continues and Mara has a mishap with her tent. I'd tell you more, but it's a surprise!**

**Oh, and, I love your reviews. Honestly, I find them fantastic to get. And also, because in reality I'm a 16 year old with a humongous sense of humor, we're at 69 reviews. Yes, cheap joke but you know what they say: '69% of people find some sort of sexual reference in every sentence.' It's true. You can double check the facts. haha Until next Thursday!**


	13. Chapter 13

**So, I lied. I said I was posting this Thursday, but I'm going to Magic Mountain and won't be able to. So instead of posting late, I'm posting early. I wanted to post early anyways. Next chapter still comes on Saturday though. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars. **

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Thirteen<span>**

A week had passed in their training. A week full of physical and emotional exertion, a week of Force exertion, and a week of Yoda's cryptic comments about attachment.

They were running through the trees, hopping between the vines and swinging low to the ground only to climb back up again. Yoda was attached to Luke's back as he ran along.

"Run!" Yoda ordered, as the trees zipped past them. Mara kicked off the base of a tree and hopped between a corridor as Luke flipped forward over a vine. "A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the darkside."

Mara grit her teeth as an image of Palpatine's ruined face floated to the forefront of her mind. Anger bubbled within her and she siphoned it off into the Force and pushed herself harder.

"Anger, fear, aggression," Yoda continued. "Emotions of the Dark Side they are. Easily they flow, but beware the path they lay. Once the Dark Side has its hold, forever will it dominate your destiny."

"What about me, Master?" she panted. "I was trained strictly by fallen Jedi and the Emperor."

"Teach you much, they did not," Yoda stated firmly. "Holding you back they were, and for that the Dark Side never consumed you."

Mara swallowed and nodded as they slowed into a clearing.

"Is the Dark Side stronger?" Luke asked, slight hesitation in his voice.

"No," Yoda said.

"How can we know the good from the bad?" Luke asked, looking over his shoulder at the Jedi Master.

"When you are calm, patient, focused," Yoda told him. "You will know."

"Is there a way to avoid the Dark Side, Master?" Mara asked.

"Follow the code," Yoda said. "Once you start down that dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Like Obi-Wan's apprentice."

"Vader," Luke hissed.

"Beware of your hate, Young Skywalker," Yoda encouraged. "The path Vader walked, laid with hate it was."

Luke swallowed and nodded, closing his eyes as he looked down in shame.

"Peace, calmness," Yoda said. "These are the emotions of a Jedi. It pleases the Force, and bathed in light they are. Way of the Jedi they are. Knowledge and defense. Never for attack."

Yoda sighed and closed his eyes, leaning away from Luke's back. "Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind, and rest." Luke released Yoda from his back and the Jedi Master began hobbling over towards his home. Mara walked towards the tree where they had lain their jackets and lightsabers earlier. Luke tugged on his coat whereas Mara merely draped it over her arm. The light was waning, signaling the approach of night.

"C'mon," Mara smiled and nodded her head in the direction of their camp before starting the trek back. Yoda was already in his home by the time they returned, light on and smoke rising from the small chimney. Mara glanced at their camp and groaned.

"Oh no," she cried out, heading towards her tent. A huge rip went clear down the side, and several Jubba Birds cawed and ripped at her tent. "Shoo, go!"

The birds cocked their heads and looked at her until the snap-hiss of Luke's Lightsaber igniting scared them off.

"Thanks," she mumbled to him as he retracted the azure blade. "What am I gonna do now?"

"You can have my tent," Luke offered, examining the scraps that remained of hers.

"I can't steal your tent," she shook her head and looked at him. Luke's brow was furrowed in thought and he blushed and looked away.

"What?" she asked and he turned back and grinned sheepishly at her.

"I was just thinking that left one other option," he said and she waited for the punch line. "We could share my tent."

"What?" she asked, her eyes bugging. "Can we fit?"

"Yeah," Luke shrugged. "The tent could fit us and Yoda, and a few of those Jubba Birds."

"I don't want to room with the Birds or Yoda."

"What about me?" he asked hesitantly.

"You're not so bad, Farmboy," she grinned and Luke's face lit up.

"Then by all means, move in," he offered. Mara rolled her eyes before reaching through the ripped flap and pulling out her rolled up sleeping sack and pillow.

Luke went to grab the rations and opened them up for himself and Mara by the time she finished moving her things.

"Thank you," she said sincerely as she sat across from Luke.

He smiled at her. "No problem," he shrugged. "Besides, what wouldn't a guy do to get a beautiful woman in his room?"

Mara paused, her ration halfway to her mouth. She looked up at Luke. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he said, no trace of humor on his face. Slowly, very slowly, a smile etched itself onto her face as she took a bite of the tasteless ration.

"No one's ever said that to me before," she admitted.

"You apparently haven't spent enough time while the other Rogues are inebriated then," he smirked. "But that's not the point."

"Right," she nodded. They lapsed into silenced as Mara thought over their conversation. He thought she was beautiful. _Beautiful_... But what did that mean? Did that mean he was attracted to her, or was he stating a fact or... Did he like her the same way she liked him?

"What are you thinking about?" Luke asked and she looked up, realizing she'd stopped eating her ration and was staring off into space with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Oh, uh, nothing," she shrugged, taking a huge bite of her ration and chewing slowly.

"Didn't seem like nothing," he grinned. She shook her head, mouth still full of the ration. "You gonna just keep chewing until I stop asking or are you going to actually tell me?"

She swallowed and blushed slightly. "I was just thinking about... Our training." She'd almost told him the truth, but she couldn't quite put herself out there like that. It was too vulnerable.

"What about it?"

"Attachments," she said, and her eyes widened as she realized it was the truth. She looked up at Luke and he had a sad look on his face.

"What... What about them?" he choked out.

"Are they really that bad?" she asked quietly. Luke's eyes shot to hers in surprise.

"I don't know," he admitted.

She nodded, knowing they really didn't need to say anymore on the subject.

To say that the sleeping situation was awkward was an understatement.

Mara hefted her bag of clothes up on a container and pulled out her sleep shorts and a fresh tank. At that moment Luke emerged from his tent with his bag, going to do the same thing.

"Did you want to change first or should..." he trailed off, pointing a thumb towards the tent.

"Your call," she said, shrugging.

"Why don't you go ahead and take it," he smiled and she nodded and ducked into the tent. She dressed quickly, grimacing at her sticky limbs. She'd only had that simple stream nearby to rinse off in, giving her whole body an unwashed feel. It didn't help that the humidity of the planet clung to her like shirt too small did. She pulled the hair tie out of her hair, shaking loose her wavy red hair. She emerged from the tent and Luke turned and gaped at her.

She raised an eyebrow and he blushed and looked down before ducking past her into the tent. She walked over to her bag and stuffed the used clothes in before grabbing her brush and yanking it through her hair.

Luke came out of the tent in only sleep pants, his muscled chest bare. Mara blushed as she saw him, her stomach growing a warm feeling before she looked away. A shirtless Luke Skywalker was not an image that would easily be purged from her mind.

"You ready?" Luke asked and she looked up at him in blank question. "For, uh, to sleep?"

"Right!" she said, grinning. She shook her head and ran a hand down her face. "Right, uh, yeah."

He swallowed heavily and nodded, ducking back into the tent. She followed, unzipping her sleep sack and getting in, but leaving it unzipped still. The heat was barely waning in the night.

Luke fumbled next to her with his bag, making the simple action seem almost awkward. He grinned and slid into the sack himself. They were facing each other, the limited light that filtered through the material of the tent barely highlighting their features. It only gave them a vague outline of where the other one was.

Mara closed her eyes and focused on sleep, listening to Luke's steady breathing and heart beat. Every nerve in her body felt alive at the proximity between her and Luke. It wasn't like they had never slept next to each other before. They had on their first night on Dagobah.

They'd also woken up spooned together. Mara furrowed her brow at the unwelcome reminder of that morning. She'd spent the majority of the day purging those memories from her mind.

They were wanted memories, sure. But at the same time they were very inconvenient. She couldn't focus on Luke during the day and remember those thoughts.

"Mara," Luke's voice cut through the darkness. Her eyes opened uselessly to stare at his darkened face.

"Yeah?"

There was a pause, long and lengthy as the only sound between them was their heavy breathing.

"Luke?" she asked. She sat up and realized Luke wasn't awake. His steady breathing and heartbeat were the same as when he was awake, but when she touched his Force presence, he was clearly unconscious.

Mara bit her lip as she touched his forehead and probed lightly with the Force. It wasn't a mind probe, but merely a deeper looking at his thoughts. Part of her felt like she was betraying Luke's trust completely.

She closed her eyes in concentration. Luke's mind shield had fallen down some in his sleep. He'd had no need to keep it up. She probed slightly and fell into his mind, a slight gasp exiting her lips.

She looked around Luke's dream-like world and noticed how the horizons were blurry, as if he almost couldn't concentrate on them.

"Luke?" she called out, and held her hand up against the bright light of the sky. She stepped forward to the lone sand-colored house and heard sand crunch under her feet. She stepped forward again and entered the small home, heading down the stairs into the underground portion of the home.

"Luke?" she called out again. She heard laughter from the dining area, and walked towards it to see. As she rounded the corner, she saw Luke covered in old tunics. There was no blaster or lightsaber on his belt either.

"Mara!" he called out and happily called out to her. "We were just talking about you!"

"You were?" she asked, and he stood and walked over to her. He kissed her on the cheek and wrapped a hand around her waist, pulling her over to the table. She immediately noticed Han and Leia sitting across from them, smiling happily.

"Of course!" he answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Where have you been? I thought you said you were out to get some Blue Milk?"

She forced a grin and decided to play along with his dream. "Uh, yeah, they were all out, sorry."

"Darn," he sighed. "Can't get good Blue Milk outside of Tatooine."

"Nope," she agreed, though she'd had no previous reference to go off of.

"So Leia," Luke continued, switching back to the conversation as he sat down across from Han and Leia on the table. His arm was still attached to her waist, and his thumb rubbed circles there. "When are you due?"

"Seven months," she grinned proudly, looking up happily at Han who threw an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him.

"That's fantastic," Luke smiled. "I'm so happy you two finally got over your stubbornness."

"Me too," Han agreed. "What about you two? Everyone at Hoth had been waiting for you guys to make a move."

"Eh," Luke shrugged. "It had to grow naturally. Right?" Luke turned to her and her heart fluttered as she realized everything Luke was dreaming about. He was dreaming about being with her.

"Yeah," she grinned, and leaned in to kiss him. As their lips touched, she was thrown out of the dream and back into reality.

The light outside was starting to lighten and she realized she'd actually fallen asleep into Luke's dream. She felt his breath shudder against her back and realized they were spooned together again, their sleep sacks carelessly discarded around their legs. Luke tilted his head into her hair again as he had the other day, though this time he was still thoroughly asleep.

"Mara," he breathed out into her hair. His breath on her neck sent an electric thrill through her body. Her leg shifted along his, and she realized that their legs were twisted together. Luke's hand that was draped over her waist began rubbing circles against her ribs. She smiled and closed her eyes at his tender affection.

She leaned her head back against his chest, fitting it in the crook of his neck. She never wanted that moment to end.

She bit her lip as she realized she had fallen too deeply for Luke Skywalker. A tear slipped down her face and she didn't bother to wipe it away. She could never have Luke like that. They were to become Jedi. Even Master Yoda said no to attachment. This was clearly attachment that needed to be severed as soon as possible.

"Mara..."

Her breath hitched and shuddered as every time he clutched her tighter to him felt like a stabbing knife in her chest. She couldn't do this. Luke's future was as a Jedi. He couldn't have that if she was with him.

She quietly untangled legs from his and leaned away from his chest before pulling his hand away from her stomach. Luke moaned and grumbled something into his pillow as she stood and exited the tent. Tears streamed down her face as she went towards the stream. She sat on a log and dipped her toes in the warm flowing water. Sobs escaped her chest and she clutched her stomach, hunching over and letting herself cry.

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><p><strong>So... Who hates me? I assure you, this has to happen. They were getting too close. You'll understand why in the next chapter. Also, the dream sequence came out of nowhere, but it was fun. Reminds me of Inception. Also a fantastic movie. <strong>

**In case you didn't guess, in the dream they were on Tatooine and Luke's outfit resemble that of what he wore in ANH. It's a dream, and isn't meant to be specific. Dreams are your brain defragging itself. It takes snippets of everything you've encountered, like temporary internet files, goes through them, and deletes them. That's why it's hard to remember dreams. **

**I'm also a computer nerd, if you haven't guessed. Not that I'm bragging (I totally am) but I built my computer myself for Christmas. It is really fast. I can give you the nerdy specs, but you don't care. lol**

**NEXT CHAPTER: Cave of the Dark Side**

**REVIEW!**


	14. Chapter 14

**To say that I love you guys, is an understatement. The response I got for the last chapter was astounding, and by far the largest yet. I feel like I should say hello to the new readers, and thanks to those that are still with me. So, thank you, you guys!**

**Also, I want to let you know that I love this chapter. It's the Dark Side Cave!**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Star Wars, and part of me is glad. I'm not responsible for Jar Jar this way.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Fourteen<span>**

Mara was distant. Luke watched as she ate her ration in silence on the other side of the makeshift camp from him. She was staring off into the trees, completely lost in thought. She'd been like that the last two days since they'd started sharing a tent. Every morning he'd woken up to her already being up and ready for the day. She didn't fool him though. He could feel the pain and sorrow radiating off of her every time their eyes met.

Her Jade irises, the ones he'd focused on in meditation so often, had dulled. They didn't hold the liveliness they used to, and had turned almost gray with lack of warmth.

He couldn't help but feel guilty. He must have done something. Something to make her so distant and lost. But every time he wracked his brain for something that could have set her off, he came up empty.

So he'd settled down and pretended to ignore that Mara wasn't herself and instead teased her like he normally would.

But she never teased back, and he hadn't heard that gentle teasing-flirting tone she used when she called him _Farmboy_ in two days. She hadn't even called him that since before the tent situation.

"Young Skywalker, Young Jade," Yoda called, exiting his hovel. "On separate missions I send you today."

"What are they?" Luke asked, watching the old Jedi Master hobble into the center of their camp before stopping to rest his hands on his gimmer stick.

"To the Cave of the Dark Side," he stated. He pointed his stick towards a pathway they'd traveled before. "A true test it is. The tree it rests in, a servant of the Dark Side it is."

"What's in there?" Luke asked, glancing off at the path.

"Only what you take with you," Yoda answered. Luke looked at him before grabbing his weapon's belt.

"Your weapons," Yoda said, causing Luke to glance up at him. "You will not need them."

Luke nodded but put the belt on anyway. He trudged off towards the path and disappeared in the trees.

"What is my task, Master Yoda?" Mara asked and Yoda turned to her.

"A conversation," he nodded. "In the days of the Old Republic, most intimidating Jedi's was I. Padawans feared my criticism. Only did Younglings follow me with rapt attention. Mind of a child, truly fascinating it is."

Yoda smiled softly and looked up at her.

"Mind of others is also fascinating, wouldn't you say?" He asked with a sly smiled. Mara gaped at him as she realized that Yoda knew about the dream she'd entered of Luke's.

"Master," she began but Yoda held up a small hand.

"Finally stopped lying to yourself, I sense," he nodded. "Truly ready to become a Jedi I believe."

Her mouth gaped open in surprise. "You're not mad at me for entering Luke's mind?"

"A Jedi does not feel anger, no," he mused. "But rather pride in my student, I feel. A very advanced technique that is. To enter one's mind with little force and good intentions."

"But I didn't have good intentions, Master," she said, pain marking her face. "I was greedy. I wanted to know what Luke dreamed of."

"But malicious, your intents were not," Yoda conceded. "But finally, you are no longer lying to yourself. Remember my conversation with you on the first day, do you?"

Mara thought back to when they were talking about attachments and meditation before.

"_Your friends make you rash, they do," Yoda chastised. "Separate destinies you and your friends lie. You two, similar destiny, but different paths all the same."_

_He sighed again and closed his eyes. _

"_Lying to yourselves you are."_

"_About what?" Mara asked hesitantly. _

"_If you do not know, only proves my point that does," Yoda grumbled and pointed to her. _

"_With all due respect, Master, how can we change it if we do not know what you are referencing?" Luke asked. _

"_Discover that on your own, you must."_

"I do," she answered.

"Then discovered what I referenced you have?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "My attachment to Luke."

Yoda nodded. "But more there is, than just attachment."

Mara looked down in shame and nodded.

"Love makes one rash, but powerful ally it is," Yoda sighed. "Most powerful. Love for our duty, for our honor. If separate ourselves from love we do, nothing do we become."

"What does that mean, Master?" she asked.

"Your attachment to Young Skywalker, harmful it could be," Yoda said firmly. "But wrong it is not."

"What?" she asked, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"If unable to focus on your Jedi powers without leaving out your attachment, dangerous you become. But if separate they are, and instead love fuels you," Yoda paused and grinned. "Then powerful, immensely powerful you will be."

"But I thought the Jedi order banned attachments?"

"True, that is," Yoda said and looked down sadly. "Too many Jedi lost due to love and attachment. Lost to the darkness."

"What does that mean for me?" she asked.

"If separate your attachments from your use of the Force, then likelihood of your falling will drop."

Mara gasped as she looked at Yoda.

"Your love of Skywalker, bad it is not."

She smiled at Yoda and nodded, her eyes brightening for the first time in days.

"Much like Luke's father he is," Yoda continued. "Not able to separate himself he is. Dangerous it is, if the difference he does not seek."

"So he's not ready for an attachment," she summed up.

"Once he learns the consequences, he will," Yoda said. "Until then, ready he is not."

Mara nodded, knowing she'd have to wait for Luke. That thought didn't bother her in the slightest.

"A truly powerful Jedi you shall become, Young Jade," Yoda smiled. "Foreseen it I have."

"Thank you Master," Mara smiled. A branch broke behind her and she turned to see Luke trudging out of the trees, a horrified look on his face.

"Master Yoda," he said, sitting next to Mara.

"Young Jade," Yoda said, ignoring Luke. "Your turn in the cave it is."

She nodded and walked away from Luke and Yoda towards the cave. The area surrounding the tree the cave resided in was ice cold. She winced as the same feeling had permeated the area around Palpatine for almost a whole mile.

She ducked into the cave, and suddenly realized she'd left her blaster and lightsaber at the camp. She'd been too preoccupied with talking to Yoda she'd forgotten it. Her panic ebbed away as she remembered Yoda's warning:

"_Your weapons. You will not need them."_

She inhaled deeply and headed forward into the dark foggy cave, bits of light filtering in here and there.

"Mara!" she heard Luke's voice call out.

"Luke?" she called back. A hiss sounded over her shoulder, reminding her of the respirator of Vader.

A flutter of robes crossed the light in front of her and she stopped in her tracks.

"Did you really think there was no punishment for betraying me?" an evil, raspy voice asked from behind her. She spun and saw the ruined face of Palpatine. "I have a new apprentice working for me now."

A cloaked man walked out of the shadows and pulled back his hood to reveal the face of Luke.

"Thanks for the position, Mara," he sneered. "You should have kept the power, it was yours."

"It was never mine," she snapped back. "I will be a Jedi."

A deep laugh resonated from Palpatine. "A Jedi? The Jedi are dead! Extinct!"

The respirator of Vader hissed behind her and she spun again.

"I killed them," Vader said, his deep voice echoing off the cavern walls.

"You failed," she grinned. "All of you. You didn't kill them all Vader, you never owned me Emperor, and Luke," she stepped closer to him. "You failed because you fell for their tricks."

Luke smiled. "You think you've won?"

She grinned back. "I know I've won because I know you are actually sitting with Yoda right now."

The image of Luke faltered for a second before fading away into the fog completely.

"The rebellion will win," she told Palpatine. "Your time is running out Your Highness."

The Emperor's vision floated away with Luke's. She turned to Vader who threw his hand out in a Force choke.

Her air ways constricted and she clutched her throat.

"Real enough?" the vision hissed, its black armor shifting menacingly and leaning into her. "You don't know all the answers, Jade."

Mara's vision began dotting as the black armored vision shifted to that of a young man with shaggy blonde hair and a scar running down his right cheek.

"You don't know the truth," he hissed, his sith-yellow eyes boring into hers. "You need to find the truth. The truth is the weakness. The truth. The truth is the weakness."

The Force grip released her and air flooded into her lungs again. She fell to her knees and panted, looking up as the man's image disappeared into the fog.

Her eyes bore a new determination as she stood, swaying slightly, before turning and exiting the cave.

* * *

><p>"Saw yourself, you did?" Yoda asked, already knowing the answer.<p>

"Is it true, Master Yoda?" Luke asked, dread and panic filling him. "Will I fall to the darkside and become Vader?"

"Always in motion, the future is," Yoda said, his ears lowering sadly.

"Can I change it?" Luke asked desperately. "I don't want to fall to the darkside. I want to be a Jedi, like my father."

Guilt rushed through Yoda at that comment, but he released it into the Force. Some things were not his to tell. "Always in motion," Yoda repeated. "Always changing, altering. A warning this is, of what could happen, not of what will."

Luke swallowed and nodded.

"Realize your mistake, you have?"

Luke nodded once more. "I'm too rash," he said. "I need to control it. To think and consider."

"Said it better myself I could not have," Yoda grinned before his expression sobered. "Much training you still have."

"I agree," Luke nodded.

"Run you shall, until Mara returns," Yoda said. "Discuss her visions in private as well I will."

Luke nodded before standing and jogging off into the trees. Not a minute later, Mara emerged from the path that led to the Dark Side Cave.

"Sense accomplishment in you I do," Yoda nodded.

"Yes, Master," she nodded before taking her seat again. "I warded off the visions, I overcame them."

"But still troubled you are?" he asked.

"Master," she started, thinking of the best way to phrase things. "I... I saw something. Darth Vader. He... He turned into a young man."

"Describe him, you can?"

"Scar over right eye, sith eyes, shaggy blonde hair," she rattled off. Yoda sighed and looked down.

"Vader's former self, you have seen," he said and looked back up at her. "Before he was in the suit."

"What does it mean?" she asked. "He kept repeating that I needed to find the truth, that the truth held the weakness."

Yoda sighed again. "Most surprising this is."

"What does it mean?" she asked. "Does he mean the weakness to the Empire? To Palpatine?"

"In time, it shall be revealed, and once it is, the time for the Empire to fall shall arise," Yoda answered.

"Do you know?" she asked quietly, and the small Jedi's eyes lit up with pain and guilt.

"Many things happened the night of the Purge. Many grave, tragic things," Yoda said, pain evident in his voice. "Many friends and Jedi were lost. Most promising student had fallen."

"Vader," she said, instead of asked. Yoda nodded.

"Powerful minds were killed, and those that escaped were hunted and killed," Yoda said. "Killed by the Dark Side."

"We will end it, Master," she said firmly. "We will discover this truth. And we will use it against the Empire."

"Easier said than done, that will be," Yoda nodded, before turning and returning to his home. Mara sat alone on the bench in thought, not really noticing when Luke came back. They readied for bed, and laid down in the tent as they had the past two nights.

When Luke woke up in the morning, his arm was firmly draped around Mara, holding her close to him.

* * *

><p><strong>Anyone want to take a shot at the meaning of Mara's vision in the cave? I'm kinda devious when it comes to how this is playing out! I'm really getting into the cryptic stuff. <strong>

**When I first started this, I didn't take it super seriously, and now that I'm this far into the story, I've discovered how much I love it. It's my baby. The first chapter story I've truly stuck with and plan to finish. Everything is in my head waiting to get out, and you guys are the cherry on top! Swears. So yeah. **

**Thank you.**

**NEXT CHAPTER: Luke's vision of Bespin. **

**REVIEW!**


	15. Chapter 15

**This is the last Dagobah chapter! I'm kinda sad to see Yoda go, but we'll see him again come Return of the Jedi! After this it's Bespin, and if you've read my author notes, you know how much I've wanted to do the Bespin part! **

**Also, I want to wish all my American buddies a Happy Fourth of July, and to all my non-American buddies, a Happy Monday! May the Force be With you All! Can I still say 'May the Fourth be with you' even though it's not May?**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Star Wars, never will unless George will sell it to me for Twenty bucks and a stick of gum. **

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Fifteen<span>**

Another week had passed on Dagobah. It had passed in the entire Galaxy as well, but to Mara, the only place that mattered was the swampy planet that had been her home for the past three weeks.

She awoke that morning, as she had the past week with Luke's arms wrapped solidly around her. It had gotten to the point where they simply had pushed their pillows closer together in silent agreement. They didn't say anything about it to each other, but they wordlessly allowed it to happen nonetheless.

She sighed as Luke buried his head in her hair once again. It always happened, and sometimes he said her name in his sleep while doing so. The feeling of his warm breath on her neck gave her a slight thrill, and she burrowed deeper against Luke.

She heard him groan and begin to wake up and moved slightly farther away. He yawned and she sat up and looked down at him.

"Morning," he mumbled through the yawn, rubbing his sleepy eyes. She stared a the way his overgrown hair brushed at his eyebrows, highlighting his light blue eyes.

"Morning," she grinned, and began to leave. He grabbed her wrist and she looked back at him.

"Stay," he said, and looked at her. She didn't know why, but she found herself nodding and laying back down. She turned towards him and propped herself up on an elbow, grinning.

"Morning," he said again with a grin.

"You already said that," she teased.

"Well, it's a good morning," he announced. "It deserves to be recognized."

"What makes it so good?" she asked, a happy smile on her face.

"There was a beautiful girl next to me," he said and she blushed.

"Really?" she asked jokingly, looking around the tent. "I don't see anyone else."

"You know who," Luke laughed and she grinned at him before burying her face in her pillow. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" she looked up at him.

"Hide your face," he said, his expression sobering. "It's the most beautiful face I've ever seen. Don't hide it from me."

She smiled at him calmly and stared into his eyes. If there was ever a moment to kiss him, now was it. But Yoda's words rang through her head about how Luke still needed to understand attachment and learn why his actions couldn't be rash.

"We need to get ready," she said, still grinning. He nodded and closed his eyes, sitting up and stretching. She watched his muscles flex and turned away so he couldn't catch her blush. She stood and exited the tent picking out her clothes. She was running low and they would have to be reused if they stayed any longer. Her nose wrinkled at the thought.

Luke exited the tent and and she reentered and changed for the day. By the time Luke had finished getting dressed himself and they were settling down for rations, Yoda was exiting his hovel for the day.

"Much to cover today we have," he told them, walking over to where they were seated. "Yes, mmm, much to cover."

"What will we be doing?" Mara asked and Yoda smiled.

"Practice your Force technique," he told her. "Moving objects. Hard work."

Luke nodded, finishing off his ration. It was probably going to be a long day...

* * *

><p>"Focus your mind," Yoda encouraged, standing atop Luke's foot, which was up in the air. Luke was standing on his hands, using the Force to hold himself upright and keep his balance. Mara was in a similar position across from him, raising several rocks around her. They rotated slowly around her like the ice rings to some of the gas planets in the Unknown Regions.<p>

"Use the Force," Yoda continued. "Yes, focus your mind. Be strong."

Luke raised a rock and stacked it upon a second one, manipulating the Force to balance those as well. He raised out his arm, standing evenly only on one hand. The Force flowed through his veins, igniting his nerves in raw potential.

Artoo beeped from the side of the clearing nervously. Desix had long ago powered down, seeing no need for his services. Artoo however had remained on, choosing instead to monitor his master. He rotated his dome and his optical sensor picked up movement with in the lake. Upon closer examination, he realized the X-Wing that Luke had crashed there was slowly sinking into the mud.

He twittered nervously, trying to get either Luke or Mara's attention.

Luke looked over at Artoo, and suddenly felt the weight of gravity heavily on his body. He put his second arm back on the ground, struggling to support himself.

"Concentrate!" Yoda called out, before losing his balance and falling from his perch on Luke. Luke fell as well, curving so as not to land awkwardly and rolling into a seated position.

Mara opened her eyes and saw Luke sprawled on the ground and Yoda hoisting himself back into a seated position with the help of his gimmer stick.

"Trouble, Farmboy?" she asked lightly, a grin on her face. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, trouble! The X-Wing just sank! Now how am I supposed to get off this planet?" he asked, frustration and anger in his voice. He stood and walked to the edge of the water. "Oh, we'll never get it out now!"

"So certain are you?" Yoda asked. Mara watched the two of them from her position upside down. She slowly moved all the rocks floating around her into a single pile before flipping forward and onto her feet. She walked over towards where Yoda stood. "Always with you what cannot be done," Yoda continued sadly. "Do you hear nothing I say?"

"Master," Luke sighed. "Moving stones around is one thing, but this is totally different!"

"No!" Yoda barked. "No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

Mara furrowed her eyebrows as she thought Yoda was referring to his Force teachings. Then she realized he would never suggest that and grinned slightly.

"Alright," Luke shrugged. "I'll give it a try."

"No!" Yoda called out again. Luke looked back at him curiously. "Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try."

Luke nodded and looked back at his X-Wing, focusing on the Force and gathering it within himself. He reached out a hand, and focused on the X-Wing moving out of the water. It began to lift out of the water, before Luke grunted and it fell back below the surface once more.

Luke sighed and walked back away from the water, giving up.

"I, I can't," he panted. "It's too big."

"Size matters not," Yoda said quietly. Mara leaned against a tree, watching the exchange carefully. "Judge me by my size, do you?"

Luke smirked and shook his head.

"As well you should not," Yoda said. "For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life it breathes. Makes it grow. It's energy surrounds us," he said looking around, "and binds us. Luminous beings are we. Not this, crude matter!" Yoda pinched Luke's arm to make his point. "You must believe in the Force around you. Everywhere. Even between the land we share."

"You want the impossible," Luke sighed, standing up to retrieve his jacket. He threw it on and sat down on a log. Mara closed her eyes until she felt the Force shift around her, and opened them to see Yoda lifting the X-Wing through the air and to the shore. Artoo twittered in amazement and Luke walked towards him. He stared at the sky in awe, utterly amazed by Yoda's power. He touched the nose of the Fighter to make sure it was really there.

Mara grinned as she saw the smug look on Yoda's face.

"I, I don't believe it!" Luke said in surprise. Yoda closed his eyes before opening them to look at Luke.

"That is why you fail."

* * *

><p>The lessons resumed with more enthusiasm from Luke. He'd now seen the true raw power of the Force, and more than ever wanted to harness that gift and maneuver it with ease.<p>

Mara and Luke stood opposite each other, once again on their hands. Boxes and rocks lifted and hovered off the ground around them, levitated by the Force.

"Concentrate," Yoda commanded from his spot next to Luke on the ground. "Feel the Force flow. Yes..."

Artoo beeped nervously as he began floating along with the other objects nearby.

"Through the Force, many things will you see," Yoda said. "Other places. The future, the past, old friends long gone."

Luke focused on the words, letting the Force fill him with any thing it needed to. Images shot through his mind quickly. The _Millennium Falcon_. Han. Leia. Vader. Clouds surrounded a sunset city, lighting them gold in hue. The vision was cold, filled with pain... dread. Purpose.

"Han? Leia!" He cried out, the panic rippling through the Force. Mara felt the spike and opened her eyes to see the shocked look on Luke's face. Boxes and rocks began falling from their floating position as the two lost concentration. Artoo squealed as he fell as well.

Mara grunted as she fell and rolled to avoid hurting her neck.

Yoda sighed and shook his head at his two students. "Control, control! You must learn control!"

"I saw..." Luke said distantly, focused on his vision. "I saw a city in the clouds."

Yoda nodded. "Friends you have there."

"Han and Leia?" Mara asked and Luke nodded to her.

"They were in pain," he told her.

"It is the future you see," Yoda said calmly.

"The future?" Luke asked and Yoda nodded. He stood and looked around before turning back to the Jedi Master. "Will they die?"

Yoda closed his eyes in thought, touching the Force for answers. "Difficult to see," he said. "Always in motion the future is."

"I've got to go to them," Luke said, turning for camp.

"Luke!" Mara called out and he turned. "What about our training?"

"Stay here," he said. "I'll go rescue Han and Leia."

"No!" she cried out. "I'm not letting you go alone!"

"Mara, please-"

"No! You could die and I would never know! I need to help you," she said firmly.

"Decide you must, how to serve them best," Yoda said evenly. "If you leave now, help them you could, but you will destroy all for which they fought and suffered."

"Master, I need to rescue them. They're in danger."

"Unclear the future is on that," Yoda shook his head. "But your decision it ultimately is."

Luke nodded firmly and trudged back towards the camp. Yoda turned to Mara, his eyes thoughtful.

"Time has come, for Young Skywalker to see the error of his ways," Yoda announced.

"Then this is a bad idea?"

"Say that, I did not," he said, shaking his head. Mara furrowed her brow in confusion. "Necessary this may be for Luke to learn the true meaning of a Jedi."

Mara nodded, thinking of her conversation with him while Luke was in the Cave of the Dark Side.

"I'll help him, Master Yoda," she said. "You can trust me on that."

"Trust you I already do," Yoda assured her. "Much closer to a becoming a Jedi Knight you are than Young Skywalker."

"Really?" Mara asked in surprise and Yoda nodded.

"Go now you must. Prepare to leave."

She nodded and followed the path Luke had taken towards their camp.

* * *

><p>Luke stumbled around the top of his X-Wing, removing the last of the swamp matter off the ship. Everything was packed up, returning Dagobah back to its natural form with the exception of the small hovel of Yoda's.<p>

Mara sat on the nose of her ship, fiddling with her helmet and waiting for Luke to be ready to leave. Desix and Artoo were already working on the pre-flight checks and fixing any minute bugs they encountered.

"Luke!" Yoda called from his spot far down on the ground. "You must complete the training."

Luke sighed, shaking his head and finishing up his examination of his ship. "I can't get the vision out of my head, they're my friends, I gotta help them!"

"You must not go!" Yoda pressured. Luke walked down the ladder that was propped up next to his ship and turned to the small Jedi Master.

"But Han and Leia will die if I don't!"

"_You don't know that,"_ an echoed voice called out, and the shimmering form of Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared over the shoulder of Yoda.

Mara gaped at his form, never realizing that the Force allowed those to reappear in a true form. "Wizard..." she whispered under her breath in amazement, using slang from the days of the Republic.

"_Even Yoda cannot see their fate,"_ Obi-Wan told Luke.

"But I can help them!" Luke said, a bit of desperation coating his tone. "I can use the Force!"

"_But you cannot control it,"_ Obi-Wan reminded. _"It's true. This is a dangerous time for you. When you will be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force."_

"Yes, to Obi-Wan you listen," Yoda encouraged and Luke sighed, leaning his head against his arm which was propped up on his Fighter. "The cave, remember your failure at the cave."

Mara wondered what Luke had seen in the cave. They'd never discussed it out of privacy to the other. Something bad must have gone down for Yoda to be so adamant in using it against Luke.

"But I've learned so much since then!" Luke ensured. "Master Yoda, I promise to return and finish what I've begun! You have my word."

"_It is you and your abilities the Emperor wants," _Obi-Wan told him.

"He's right Luke," Mara said, and three sets of eyes looked up at her on her X-Wing. "After he figured out who shot that shot that blew up the Death Star, he became obsessed with finding you and turning you. He wants you to kill Vader and take his place."

"I would never turn," Luke told her.

"_That is what Vader said so many years ago," _Obi-Wan said sadly. _"It is you the Emperor wants and that is why you're friends are made to suffer."_

"That's why I have to go!" Luke told him, examining the engine of the Fighter.

"_Luke, I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader,"_ Obi-Wan confessed.

"You won't," Luke said with a grin.

"Stopped it must be," Yoda said. "On this, all depends. Only a fully trained Jedi, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor. If you end you're training now, if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did, an agent of evil you will be."

"_Patience."_

"And sacrifice Han and Leia?" Luke asked sharply.

"If you honor what they fight for," Yoda said sadly. "Yes."

"_If you choose to face Vader you will do it alone," _Obi-Wan threatened. _"I cannot interfere."_

His words tumbled over and over in Luke's mind as he made his decision. With a quick glance at Mara, still perched on her X-Wing, he turned back to Yoda and Obi-Wan.

"I understand." Luke turned and began heading up the ladder to the cockpit of his ship. "Artoo, fire up the convertors."

Mara watched the shocked expressions of the two Jedi Master's faces harden and return to their neutral state before she stood and walked back to her cockpit.

"Mara," Yoda rasped from below. She looked at the Jedi. "Beware of the Dark side, and mind your attachments."

She grinned and nodded. "May the Force be with you, Master Yoda."

"To you, may it be as well," Yoda nodded. Desix closed the roof of her fighter, darkening the surroundings around her.

"_Luke!"_ Obi-Wan called. _"Don't give in to hate! That leads to the Dark Side."_

"Strong is Vader! Mind what you have learned! Save you it will!" Yoda called, trying to be heard over the sound of both X-Wing engines firing up.

"I will," Luke called down. "And I'll return, I promise." The roof to his cockpit closed and shut Luke off from the two Masters down below. Mara's ship hovered before taking off for the skies, Luke's shortly behind her.

Yoda closed his eyes as the light of their ships faded. "Told you I did, reckless is he. Now, matters are worse."

"_Those two are our last hope,"_ Obi-Wan mused.

"No," Yoda denied. "There is one more."

The light of the landing gear faded away, leaving Yoda alone on the planet once more.

* * *

><p><strong>Goodbye Yoda! I'll miss you! It will be a lot of chapters until the next time I see you! *Tear*<strong>

**Anyways, the mid point of this story is drawing near. Amazing, I know. I pretty much have everything in my head planned out at this point, but you never know quite exactly where your characters will take you. **

**I haven't done this yet in this story, mostly because it embarasses me if that particular author reads this and sees it, but I'm recommending what I deem one of the best Luke/Mara stories on here. I am crazy envious of her. Really. **

**Alliance of Heros by JediMara77**

**It is insanely good. Basically, Alderaan has a slightly different effect on people, and Mara is tasked with removing the defectors from the Navy. But when she gets sucked into a plot to defect, she discovers the true evil that the Empire can be, and ends up truly defecting as well. **

**I started reading this story slightly before I began this story, but it didn't get to Mara's defection until after I'd already posted a few chapters of this. I'm basically just reminding you guys that I didn't plagiarize her story. We have similar concepts, but hers is alot different and insanely better. You should totally read it. **

**Back to my story. Don't forget to Review!**

**NEXT CHAPTER: Bespin**


	16. Chapter 16

**I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I really don't like writing the dialogue from the movie. It's a pain and it sucks all my creativity out. Luckily, there's only one other part to Bespin. I've been eager to write it, but I think I was looking more forward to the implications of it, than the actual piece. **

**But ESB is coming to an end. My favorite movie. Kinda sad, but I'm honestly eager to write Home Fleet. Alot will happen. Trust me. **

**DISCLAIMER: I own a Star Wars pillow that I can never look at the same after my best friend made the term 'Use the Force' dirty, but not the actual movies.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Sixteen<span>**

They exited hyperspace in front of the Gas Giant of Bespin. Artoo had located the coordinates for Cloud City, and they descended into the planet silently. Tower control granted them access with ease, directing them to a double landing pad where they landed their ships side by side.

"I don't like this, Luke," Mara said, her blaster drawn as they walked towards the double white doors at the end of the pad.

"Neither do I," he agreed, blaster ready as well. They entered the compound and followed the stark white walls silently. No one milled about, no guards were posted, end everything was eerily silent. Artoo followed along behind Luke, beeping quietly in worry.

Luke paused and felt out with the Force. Something sinister was lurking, that was for sure. "Do you feel that?" he asked, glancing at Mara.

"Yeah," she nodded, raising her blaster. "It's Vader, I recognize his signature."

"Kriff," Luke cursed, glancing down the hall. He, Mara and Artoo and Desix were the only ones there, but that didn't mean no one was there period.

The walked quietly along the walls, keeping their backs pressed against it and constantly glancing back over their shoulder. Luke peered his head around a corner and yanked it back immediately, see a group of Cloud City officials transporting a long, slender metal box of some sort. He pressed out with the Force, trying to get a read on them.

A small gasp left his lips as he felt Han's Force signature buried deeply within the box. Something was keeping him at a state just before death.

"Han," Mara whispered, sensing him too.

"We need to move," Luke said, stepping forwards slightly before a plasma bolt his the wall next to his head. He shot back at the offender, who ducked behind the corner, firing off several more shots. Luke caught a glimpse of weathered green armor before it ran off.

Mara and Luke ran off down the halls away from the person shooting at them, heading the way they'd seen the people transporting come. Leia's Force signature lit up as Luke bounded down the hall. He and Mara pressed themselves to the wall as stormtroopers caught sight of them and began firing.

They shot back and watched as several Imperial Officers pushed Leia and Chewie along with several other prisoners.

"Luke!" Leia yelled over the sound of blaster fire. "Luke! Don't! It's a trap!"

An Imperial Officer forced her down the hall, out of sight. Her hands gripped the corner, pulling her back towards Luke.

"It's a trap!" She screamed before the Officer contained her. The last of the storm troopers disappeared behind her, leaving them alone in the halls once more.

"Mara," Luke turned. "Take Desix and find Leia and Chewie. See if you can free them."

"Right," she nodded. "What do you plan to do?"

"I have to fight Vader," he said, glancing back down the hallway Leia was taken.

"Luke," she said, worry lacing her tone.

"Don't," he stopped her. "I have to do this."

She nodded mutely before taking off down the hall, Desix hot on her heels. Luke ran off as well, ducking down the hallway he'd sensed Vader's presence coming from. He stepped in cautiously, and the door slid shut behind him. Artoo twittered panickedly, before being locked outside.

Luke looked back and sighed. He was on his own now. Stepping forward quietly, the floor under his feet glowed a dull orange and he felt himself going upwards into a tunnel. He froze until he came out into a mechanical room. The floor glowed the same dull orange as the floor in the hallway had. Blue light lined the walls, giving everything a cold feel. It didn't help that puffs of cold gas flowed up in release from the floor every so often. He walked forward, the hatch that had allowed him in closing behind him. Twisted metal tubes and coils hung messily from the ceiling.

Lights turned on, illuminating the room. Control panels lined the circular surface, and a whole in the center of the floor sat below a huge durasteel claw. Luke turned and saw the unmistakable silhouette of Darth Vader standing on one of the higher platforms.

"The Force is with you, Young Skywalker," Vader called out in his deep baritone voice. "But you are not a Jedi yet."

Luke didn't flinch or convey any fear, though he did feel some. He instead calmly walked the stairs up towards Vader, preparing himself for a fight. Silence hung between them until the snap-hiss of Luke's blade igniting broke it, and Luke fell into the defensive stance Ben had taught him all those years ago.

Vader calmly ignited his own ruby blade, bathing the circle between them in soft purple light as the two blades reflected off each other.

Luke swung up, striking Vader's blade with ease. Vader blocked it easily, only using one hand to mock Luke. Luke swung a down stroke to which Vader blocked and pushed back to knock the young man backwards on the ground. Luke stood, holding his blade out once more. He stepped forward, and Vader moved back. It was a dance. Delicate, and the price for missing a step was death.

They thrust forwards again, their blades meeting with the crackle and smell of o-zone. Each strike was met, each defense defending perfectly. But Vader was still holding back.

Mara followed the group of Imperials and their prisoners quietly, Desix following closely and silently. Cloud City officials surrounded the group, pulling blasters and apprehending the Imperials quickly.

A dark skinned man in a powder blue cloak collected the rifles from the Stormtroopers, showing his authority over the situation. Mara laid back, waiting to see if the situation ran sour.

"Lobo," the man hissed, leaning into a bald pale man. "Take them to the security tower. Keep it quiet."

The Cloud City officials moved the Stormtroopers away, leaving Leia, Chewie and the Man, who handed Leia the rifles he was holding.

"What do you think you're doing?" Leia asked sharply, walking around the man. Mara couldn't see from this angle, but she assumed he was removing the binders on Chewie.

"Getting you out of here," the man hissed.

"I knew it all along! It had to be a mistake!" Threepio's electronic voice floated down the hallway. Mara spotted the bits of gold strapped to Chewie's back, flailing its arms around.

"You think after what you did to Han-" Leia started but was cut off as Chewie cried out and wrapped his paws around the man's throat. Mara's eyes widened as she ran forward with her blaster drawn.

"Chewie!" she yelled, skidding to a stop across from Leia.

"I had no choice!" the man rasped, gasping for air. Chewie roared in anger.

"Chewbacca!" Threepio screamed. "What are you doing? Trust him, trust him!"

"Oh we understand, don't we, Chewie?" Leia snapped. "He had 'no choice'!"

"I'm just trying to help!" the man rasped, falling to his knees.

"Leia! Stop this!" Mara cried. Leia's dark eyes looked almost black as she laid them on Mara.

"He froze Han in Carbonite! He betrayed us!" she yelled angrily. Mara's mouth dropped in shock.

"You what?" she asked the man.

"Trying...to help!" he rasped.

"We don't need any of your help!" Leia said firmly, glaring down at the man.

The man gasped, barely getting oxygen in. "Han!"

Chewie growled and the man looked up at Mara with pleading eyes.

"Han!" he rasped.

"What?" Leia asked, not really caring.

"It sounds like 'Han'," Threepio stated.

"Still a chance to save Han!" the man nodded. Leia's eyes widened at the thought.

"Chewie!" Leia called and started walking. Chewie released the man and he fell forward, clutching his throat and gasping.

They ran down the hall, Mara following them out of no idea of what else to do.

"I'm terribly sorry about this!" Threepio called out, always the proper droid. "After all, he's only a wookiee!"

They ran along one of the outer walkways, headed towards the landing platform apparently the bounty hunter who had Han was stationed. The man was running with them, Mara right behind him. She heard twittering behind her and looked to see Artoo.

"Artoo! What are you doing here?" She cried out. "Where's Luke?"

Artoo beeped in response.

"You don't know?" she asked, and huffed angrily. _Not the time for Farmboy to be running off_, she thought angrily. Artoo and Desix trailed behind them, doing their best to keep up.

They reentered the compound, flying down the sterile walls.

"Artoo, Artoo!" Threepio cried out. "Where have you been?"

Artoo twittered angrily and Chewie turned, allowing Mara and the man to run past ahead of them.

"Oh, turn around!" Threepio cried and Chewie turned and ran back behind everyone. "Hurry, we're trying to save Han from the bounty hunter!"

Artoo twittered something back to Threepio.

"Well, at least you're still in one piece!" he huffed. "Look what happened to me!"

They came to the landing pad doors and the man quickly keyed in the code to open them. Leia rushed forward, looking up as the ship began to fly off. She fired several shots but gave up when the shields absorbed them all. She stared in utter sadness at the sky, fearing for Han.

"Oh no!" Threepio screamed. "Chewie! They're behind you!"

Mara and Chewie spun, shooting at the on coming stormtroopers. Mara glanced back at Leia and grabbed her arm.

"C'mon," she hissed, and Leia returned to her Princess facade: Cold as Hoth and only wanting the end of the Empire.

They fired at the troopers, running back down the halls of the compound.

Darth Vader trusted forward on his blade, pushing Luke back.

"You've learned much, Young One," Vader mentioned.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Luke retorted, striking forward again. Vader knocked him to the ground, forcing Luke to defend himself quickly and one handed. Vader angled his blade, prying it loose and forcing it away. Blue light reflected off the various metal instruments in the room as the blade whipped through the air. The lightsaber retracted with a snap hiss as it hit the ground.

Vader took the opportunity to swing down with all his strength, but Luke rolled away and tumbled down the glowing stairs. He glanced up and saw the shadowy figure of the Sith Lord floating down with ease at him. He ran away, Darth Vader's boots slamming right where his head had been. Luke stood in a defensive pose, wary of his opponent.

"Your destiny lies with me now," Vader commanded. "Obi-Wan knew this to be true."

"No," Luke hissed, stepping backwards again. A loud humming resonated from the Carbon Freezing Pit below him. Vader threw a fake lightsaber swing and Luke flinched backwards, letting out a small yelp as he became weightless. He slammed to the bottom and the wind rushed out of him.

"All too easy," Vader boasted, flipping the switch to activate the pit with the Force. Luke glanced around and jumped as the Freezing began, clutching to the sinewy pipes of wire that swung down like the vines in Dagobah.

"Perhaps you are not as strong as the Emperor thought," Vader taunted, leaning towards the pit and looking for his carbonized form. A loud clanging sounded above him and he looked up as Luke tried to grasp onto the ceiling.

"Impressive," Vader said, swinging his crimson blade at Luke's legs and missing. Sparks flew, warming Luke's boot with the heat. "Most impressive."

Luke did a front flip downwards and landed on his feet. Coolant from the slashed pipe released Carbon into the air, clouding them in a suffocating white fume. Luke grabbed the swinging pipe and angled it at Vader's mask, clouding his viewing port and choking up his ventilator. Vader grunted and backed away. Luke called upon the Force and his lightsaber flew to his hand, igniting upon impact. He swung around and clashed with a hiss of ozone as Vader's blade swung towards him.

"Obi-Wan has taught you well," Vader observed. "You have control over your fear."

They slashed and parried again, before they were stuck in another deadlock.

"Now," Vader commanded, his emotionless mask peering into Luke menacingly. "Let go of your anger. And your hatred and Destroy me!"

He slashed again and Luke's brilliant blue blade caught Vader's crimson. After a few strikes, Luke flipped over Vader, catching the Sith unawares. Vader spun and caught the new attacks effortlessly, but soon became weighed down by Luke's attack. He was forced back and off the edge of the freezing chamber. Luke stood above the darkness before moving towards an easier drop and jumping after Vader. He came face to face with a grated vent which opened to let him pass. Luke eyed the new opening hesitantly, before stepping forward. The walls and floors of the circular tube ignited with brilliant white light, blinding him temporarily. He came out in an old office, looking around the dark surroundings for his adversary.

The hiss of the ventilator stopped Luke, and he stretched out with the Force to search for the elusive signature of Vader. He found it, and turned while igniting his blade. Vader stepped forward out of the shadows and repeated the gesture.

They eyed each other for a moment before Vader waved his gloved arm at an electric tubing attached to the wall. It snapped free with a spark and flew over towards Luke. He sensed the attack from behind and spun to slice his blue blade at it. Vader moved in while Luke was distracted and tried striking again. Luke caught his blade and fought back.

The sabers locked again and Luke was hit on the back of the head by another one of Vader's distractions, this time a box. He grunted and staggered back, dizzy from the blow.

Vader released more boxes and objects at Luke, each time he slashed clumsily about, missing them completely. The objects pushed him backwards towards the circular window. Finally an object missed Luke, striking the window. The vacuum of the chamber behind the glass sucked objects about the room. Vader clutched at the wall to keep from flying out the window. Luke roughly clung to the wall before the wind in the room picked him up and tossed him out the window.

The wind died down and Vader moved forward towards the window. With a glance below he saw Luke clinging to the walkway for dear life. Luke lifted himself up and pulled himself to safety, panting with exertion. He just needed to survive that fight to go make sure Leia, Mara and Chewie were alright. But the trick was just surviving.

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><p><strong>I don't really have much to say here. Honestly. I've moved into my Dad's finally, so I'm getting into the groove of things here. So Max, you know you better review, or there will be Sith Hell to pay. For everyone else, I won't threaten but merely beg for your reviews. You know me, I won't with hold the story if I don't get them, but reviews are like candy! Unless you're diabetic. Then it's like Splenda. <strong>

**Now that I've stepped on the toes of a nice group of people! Anyways. **

**Oh, and Max, **Dopo mee gusha, peedunkey? Dopo?****

****NEXT CHAPTER: Bespin Part II****

****REVIEW!****


	17. Chapter 17

**Bespin Part II! Big yay there. This chapter was a pain. I really, really don't like writing the stuff from the movie. But it has to be done. **

**DISCLAIMER: George! Y U NO SHARE STAR WARS?**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Seventeen<span>**

Mara shot her blaster at the Stormtroopers tailing them through the compound.

"Mara, C'mon!" Leia called and Mara dashed up a set of stairs and into the elevator. The doors shut in the faces of the Troopers, blocking them from more fire.

The Man in the powder blue cape sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Now what?" Leia asked and Chewie growled out something.

"Chewbacca suggests that we return to the _Millennium Falcon_," Threepio translated.

"We're already heading to that level," The man said.

"Good," Leia said firmly, eying the man. "Lando, is there a fast route there, or do we have to go around?"

"I know of a route that will get us there quickly," He said.

"We'll have to come back for my X-Wing," Mara said. "But that might not be until we finish the war. Imperial presence will be tight here for awhile."

"I need to warn the people," Land said.

"We don't have time, thanks to you," Leia hissed.

"I can't let them become slaves to the Empire! I'm the Administrator, I need to protect them!"

"Leia, just let him," Mara said to the Princess. "You would want this if you weren't so angry right now."

Leia grunted and the elevator came to halt, the door sliding open to them. She walked off the lift quickly with the stolen Blaster ready to fight off any Troopers. Land ran in front of them and stopped at an access panel.

"My security code has been changed!" he cried out angrily. Chewie roared and pounded on the door.

"Artoo!" Threepio cried out. "You can tell the computer to override the security code!"

Artoo twittered and extended one of his computer connections in the outlet of the wall.

"Artoo, hurry!" Threepio ushered and Lando crossed to the other end of the hallway to another terminal.

He typed in a code and pulled out a comm link. He held it to his lips and began speaking into it. "Attention, this is Lando Calrissian, Attention. The Empire has infiltrated the city. I advise all citizens to evacuate the city before more Imperial troops arrive."

Mara's attention turned from the announcement to the sparking that was occurring as Artoo became electrocuted. He twittered wildly before Chewie pulled the Astromech away from the outlet.

"This way!" Lando said, ignoring the smoking droid. He bounded down the hallway and the rest of the group began running after him.

Artoo twittered angrily at Threepio as they ran along.

"Don't blame me! I'm an interpreter!" Threepio said evenly. "How am I supposed to know a computer circuit from a power terminal?"

"Quiet you two!" Mara shouted back before they came into one of the main hallways. Madness had ensued after Lando's announcement. People were running everywhere and the six, seven if you included Threepio tied to Chewie's back, had to dodge through the crowd, getting hit and body checked several times.

A red blaster bolt whizzed past Mara's head and Chewie turned and fired his bow caster back at the Trooper. Mara ran backwards, firing her own shots at the few Troopers. Artoo pulled up to a computer terminal and began splicing into the computer system. The four with blasters protected Artoo and Desix, firing back at the onslaught of troopers.

Artoo beeped to Threepio as he found info on the _Falcon _in the mainframe.

"We're not interested on the Hyper drive of the _Millennium Falcon_!" Threepio cried. "Just open the door you stupid lump!"

The door to the landing pad slid open and Artoo began rolling out, quickly followed by Desix.

"I never doubted you for a second!" Threepio cried. "Wonderful!"

Chewie ran towards the _Falcon_ to get it fired up. Mara and Leia still fired relentlessly at the Troopers before Lando grabbed Leia and started yanking her out the door. Mara followed quickly, the _Falcon_ sitting unguarded and safe on the landing pad.

The troopers followed as well, stray bolts landing on the ship's hull. Chewie ran down the corridor to the cockpit, taking special care to set Threepio down on the floor before starting up the ship. Lando felt the shudder of the Engine warming up behind him and shouted towards Leia.

"Leia! Go!" Leia nodded and ducked into the ship. Lando and Mara continued fire before following her up.

Mara hit the button to raise the ramp as Artoo rolled past, dragging Threepio.

"I thought that hairy beast would be the end of me," Threepio said melodramatically. Mara rolled her eyes and ran for the cockpit. She steadied herself against the wall as the Thrusters jerkily rose the ship from the pad.

"Nice take off," she called out sarcastically. Chewie roared in annoyance, trying to pilot the ship from the copilot's seat.

* * *

><p>The wind in the chamber howled as Luke made his way unsteadily along one of the antennas. Vader was sure to be lurking about, ready to spring on him. He just had to be careful. He looked both ways before heading back towards the command room he'd fallen from before. The snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting and the sudden breath through a ventilator sounded and Luke jumped back in anticipation. Vader swung out, hitting electronics with sparks flying. He hit Luke's blade repeatedly and with much force behind it. Their blades locked and the crackle of the ozone releasing from the blades laid in the air between them. Vader pushed Luke back and swung around the door frame. Luke backed out onto the antenna and was forced further down. Vader swung and knocked Luke down, holding his lightsaber to his chest.<p>

"You are beaten," Vader said in his deep baritone. "It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."

Luke brought his saber up and knocked Vader's out of the way while rolling to the side and standing. Vader swung and Luke ducked before bringing his blade up to knock Vader's. Vader swung again and Luke ducked same as before, but this time swiped at Vader and managed to slice his arm slightly. Vader grunted in pain before advancing forwards once more. He hit a set of spires on the Antenna and they broke off with a white sparking. Luke brought his blade forward and Vader swung under and up. The crimson blade passed easily through Luke's wrist, sending his lightsaber and hand flying off down the chamber.

Luke cried out in pain, clutching his hand to him. He fell to his knee and grabbed at part of the broken spire.

Vader loomed over him. "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you." Luke began backing back down the antenna, away from the Dark Lord. "Luke, you have not yet realized your importance. You have only just begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can bring an end to this destructive path, and bring order to the galaxy!"

"I'll never join you!" Luke growled out.

"If only you knew the power of the Dark Side," Vader said. Luke began turning and reached across the antenna's final spire to grasp it with his only hand. He almost slipped and swung around before his feet found purchase.

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father," Vader stated.

"He told me enough," Luke said, "he told me you killed him."

"No," Vader said. "I am your father."

Luke's mouth fell open in shock and denial coursed through his veins. "No, that's not true," he shook his head. "That's impossible."

"Search your feelings," Vader commanded. "You know it to be true."

Luke stretched out, the Dark Lord opening himself up to Luke and allowing the truth to flow to him.

Luke closed his eyes and let out and anguished cry. "No!"

"Luke," Vader said, calling his attention back. "We can destroy the Emperor. I have foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the Galaxy as Father and Son."

Luke looked around to see his options before he looked back up at Vader.

"Come with me, it is the only way," Vader continued. Luke sent out a resounding 'Not the only way' through the Force to Vader before letting go and falling down the pit. He'd rather die than join the Dark Side.

Part of him felt bad for throwing away all Master Yoda's teachings, but at the same time, was it worth it?

He couldn't bring himself to finish that thought. The vacuuming air funneled into a port on the side of the chamber, drawing Luke in. He slid along the tubing before coming to a halt on an even spot. A door opened beneath him and he fell out and onto another antenna, this one on the bottom of Cloud City.

The wind knocked out of him as he stopped falling. He caught himself and began crawling back towards the open door that had released him. It closed as soon as he touched it, blocking him out.

"Ben," Luke moaned before falling down once more. "Ben!"

"_I cannot help you,"_ Ben had said before Luke left Dagobah. He wouldn't, couldn't come.

"Leia," Luke called out instead. "Hear me. Leia!"

* * *

><p>Back on the Millennium Falcon, Leia gasped as she heard Luke's voice echo through her head. "We've got to go back."<p>

"What?" Lando asked.

"I know where Luke is!" she said, and Mara sat forward.

"He's in trouble?" she asked and Leia turned back to the controls.

"What about all those fighters?" Lando asked. Chewie rawlled at him and Lando backed off.

"Chewie just do it," Leia said, and the ship began banking around to head back to Cloud City. The ship pulled up along the bottom of the city and Lando caught sight of someone holding themselves on an antenna.

"Look," he said, pointing. "Someone's up there."

"It's Luke," Leia confirmed. "Chewie, slow down. Slow down and we'll get under it. Lando, go open the top hatch."

Lando opened the door to the cockpit and ran out, Mara quickly following him. The Falcon pulled up right underneath Luke. Lando stepped into the corridor up the top hatch, hitting the switch to bring him up to the roof of the ship. The door slid open and Luke fell easily into the ship. Lando caught him and descended back down.

TIE fighters began flying towards them, finally having picked up on their trace. Leia saw them coming and quickly called Lando on the intercom.

"Lando?"

"Okay, we've got him," Lando called back and the Falcon dipped and took off away from Cloud City and back towards space.

As the lift up to the top of the ship returned, Mara rushed forwards, helping Luke up and towards the Med Bay. Lando ran back towards the cockpit quickly and he exchanged seats with Leia so she could run back to see how Luke was.

She ran to a stop in the door way to the Med Bay, Mara was sitting over Luke, attaching something to his arm.

"How is he?" Leia asked and Mara looked up with an angry look in her eye.

"The bastard chopped off his hand," she hissed. "I've given him pain meds, but he's fairly out of it."

"Oh, Luke," Leia sighed, getting to her knees beside her best friend. She stroked his bangs away from the bruised and inflamed eye, her stomach clenching at what Luke must have gone through. The ship jolted violently, throwing her and Mara to the side.

"I better get back," she said.

"I've got things here," Mara nodded and Leia left with one last look at Luke. She stepped into the cockpit again, standing over Lando's shoulder.

"Star Destroyer," she pointed at the large flag ship.

"Yeah, I know," Lando hissed and Leia turned back to man the navigation controls. "Alright, Chewie, you ready for Light Speed?"

Chewie growled out in the affirmative.

"If your people fixed the Hyper drive," Leia said bitterly before turning to Chewie. "All the coordinates are set. It's now or never."

"Punch it!" Lando said and Chewie pushed the control lever for the Hyper drive The ship whirred and moaned in failure. Leia and Chewie exchanged a look before turning to a shocked Lando. Chewie burst out growling frustrated expletives.

"They told me they fixed it!" Lando cried. "I trusted them to fix it! It's not my fault!"

Leia shook her head in dismay. Chewie pushed through the cockpit towards the Engine room.

Back in the Med Bay, Mara and Luke glanced up as the sound of the Hyper drive failing once more sounded.

"I better go help them," Mara said quietly. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded, giving her a pained grin.

She nodded before standing and exiting the room. Chewie marched past the door and she followed him to the Engine room.

"Noisy brute," Threepio said as they entered the Engine area. "Why didn't we just go into Light Speed?"

Artoo beeped back in response. "We can't? How would you know the Hyper drive is deactivated?"

Mara looked up at Threepio's words. The two droids were sitting off to the side, Threepio mostly reassembled.

"The city's central computer told you?" Threepio responded to Artoo's beeping. "Artoo-Deetoo, you know better than to trust a strange computer!"

"Wait!" Mara said. She turned to Chewie. "Chewie! Artoo says the Hyper drive is deactivated!"

Chewie looked up from the pit curiously, before beginning to scramble out. They might just have a chance yet.

* * *

><p>"<em>Luke<em>," Vader's voice hissed in Luke's head. Luke looked up and around quickly before realizing Vader was talking to him through the Force.

"Father?" Luke called out.

"_Son_," Vader breathed. "_Come with me_."

Luke laid back on the medical bed in despair. "Ben, why didn't you tell me?" He sat up and made his way towards the cockpit slowly as they dodged Blaster fire.

"Chewie!" Lando called through the intercom system. Chewie growled back angrily as they crouched around Artoo who was setting himself up in the Falcon's computer.

Luke slumped down into a seat in the cockpit, staring at the giant Star Destroyer through the View port.

"It's Vader," he said evenly. Leia and Lando were too busy to hear him, but Vader tried to reach him once more through the Force.

"_Luke, it is your destiny_," Vader called out and Luke squinted his eyes, trying to force Vader out of his mind.

"Ben," Luke said under his breath. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Artoo moved the lever that activated the Hyper drive, and the control area lit up in bright confirmation.

The ship flew backwards, as did Mara and Chewie as the ship lurched to light speed.

"You did it!" Threepio cried as Artoo screamed and rolled backwards into the uncovered Engine area. The _Falcon_ lurched into light speed and headed towards the set coordinates of the Rendezvous point. Luke sighed as he escaped the clutches of Vader once more, and the throbbing in his arm flooded to the forefront of his mind.

Mara entered the cockpit and sighed.

"You ran off," she said evenly to Luke.

"Yeah," he said distantly. "Sorry."

"It's fine," she said, glancing worriedly at Luke. She turned to Leia who was sitting in the pilot's chair with her head resting in her hand. "Leia, how long till we get to the Rendezvous point?"

"Two hours," she answered. "That is unless they've moved on since then."

"But I thought you said this point was just a point in space, no system?"

"It is, but the gravity well created by Home Fleet could knock a cruising Imperial Ship from Hyper Space," Leia said, looking up at Mara. The red head nodded.

"Alright," she said. "Well, then we hope they're still there."

"That we do," Leia nodded, staring back out at the swirling of Hyperspace.

Mara sat in the other navigator seat next to Luke. Something had gone down with Vader, but she didn't know quite what. She could only hope Luke would let her in enough to tell her.

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><p><strong>So now we enter the territory between ESB and RotJ! Super excited for that! <strong>

**Now, I know I've been posting these chapters late in the day, but I actually don't wake up until eleven or so Pacific Central Time. Yeah, I am the stereotypical teenager. I also don't edit the chapters until the day of the posting normally so that I can have a fresh look at them. So that takes awhile depending on typos. **

**Anywho. I'm writing the next chapter as we speak. Don't forget to REVIEW!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Who remembers chapter twelve? Okay, now who remembers my authors note? Well, for those of you that don't remember, I mentioned how there was a pattern of the chapters I liked. First chapter six, then twelve. Now here we are at eighteen, a multiple of six, and I love this chapter too!**

**Weird, huh?**

**I actually rewrote this chapter like three times. I ended up with the end result and it seemed less forced in my opinion, but I'll let you be the judge of that. **

**I barely touch on it, but I will delve deeper into Han's predicament and what took them so long to rescue him later. I will also be confronting Luke's paternity more later as well. But here is kinda the set up chapter so to speak. **

**DISCLAIMER: So I bought the making of SW book last night. I own a copy of that as well as a copy of the Making of ESB. But that's it. The movies belong to George. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Eighteen<strong>

A knock on the door tore Luke from his thoughts. He was laying on the bed in his quarters, going over a hundred different things in his head. He stretched out with the Force and grinned as he felt Mara's presence on the other side of the door. Jumping up, he palmed open the door and grinned as their eyes met.

"Heard you got released from the Med Bay," she said.

"Yep, an hour ago," he nodded, heading back towards the bed. He sat down and leaned against the wall, leaving plenty of room for Mara. She took a seat next to him, mimicking his position.

"Lando commed us half an hour ago," she said.

"Oh?"

"They arrived at Tatooine with no trouble," she said. "They'll be milling around Mos Eisely for a few days and see if anyone knows about whether or not Fett actually took Han to Jabba's."

"I'm sure he did," Luke said. "There's no way he could refuse the reward."

"That's my thought," she agreed. They lapsed into a comfortable silence again, perfectly content with just being in the other's presence.

"How's the hand?" Mara asked after a while. Luke lifted his artificial hand, turning it over and over to examine both sides.

"It's weird," he shrugged. "I can feel it, but at the same time it feels kinda numb from the wrist down. I have to get used to it."

"It'd be kinda complicated if you didn't," she joked. Luke chuckled and shook his head. His sandy blonde hair falling into his eyes. "You need a haircut."

He ran a hand through his hair, nodding. "I do."

"Don't cut it too short," she said and he looked at her. She reached her hand up and brushed his bangs to the side. "I like it long."

"Do you?" Luke asked with a smug grin.

"Yes, I do," she nodded. Her hand fell down and her eyes met his. They stared at each other for a long moment before she felt Luke's thumb running along her hand. Slowly, almost too slow for her to believe, Luke leaned in towards her. Her eyes focused on his lips, and how they looked. At that moment, all she wanted was to kiss him. She leaned back up to Luke and her eyes fluttered shut as their lips met. Kissing Luke was a hundred times better than she'd ever thought it would be. A thousand times, maybe even a million times better.

The hand that Luke wasn't running his thumb along raised up and clutched at his neck. Luke's other hand fell to her hip, content with just holding her there.

When they broke apart for air, they just grinned like teenagers and panted for air.

"Wow," Luke grinned.

"Yeah," she agreed, biting her lip.

"We should have done that way sooner," he joked and she rolled her eyes.

"You're pretty cocky for a Farmboy," she laughed.

"Been hanging out with too many Corellians, Red," he said.

She raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "Red?"

"You nicknamed me something obvious," Luke shrugged. "I feel the need to return the gesture. And it's named after your hair."

"I figured," she rolled her eyes. "But it's kinda unimaginative."

"And 'Farmboy' isn't?" he asked.

She shook her head and pulled his neck back towards her. "Shut up, Farmboy," she hissed before kissing him again. Luke leaned into her, and they leaned back on the bed. Mara's back hit the mattress, and Luke hovered over her, keeping his weight off her while still leaning against her.

"So eager to get me in bed," she panted against his lips jokingly.

"I've wanted you since that first audition with the Rogues," he admitted.

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked.

"Fear of rejection."

"I've been falling for you since you left that note in my datapad, the first night I joined the Alliance."

"Well, aren't we a pair?" he joked, and resumed kissing her. The door slid open and the two jumped apart guiltily. Wedge stopped right inside the doorway, grinning.

"I guess this means I won the bet," he grinned.

"What do you want, Antilles?" Luke asked annoyed.

"Calm down, I'll let you get back to fraternizing with Jade," Wedge shook his head and held up his hands in an innocent gesture. "I just came to see how you were."

"I'm fine," Luke said shortly.

"I can see that," Wedge nodded and looked between the two of them.

"Is that all?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Wedge nodded, starting to head out. He stopped and ducked back in, snapping his fingers. "Oh, make sure your shots are up to date."

"Get out, Antilles!" Luke yelled and Wedge grinned and closed the door behind him. Luke groaned and leaned his head back against the wall with his eyes tightly screwed shut. "Ten minutes."

"What?"

"Ten minutes until the entire base knows we're together," Luke said, opening his eyes and looking down at Mara.

She grinned widely. "We're together?"

"Unless you kiss all your Commanding Officers like that, yes," he joked. She swatted at his arm.

"Crazy Farmboy," she rolled her eyes, standing up. "Doesn't even know I only have eyes for him."

"Where you going?" he asked, pulling onto her arm.

"Unlike some of us on sick leave, I actually have base duties to do," she joked.

"You should hide out here," he said, tugging her back towards his bed.

"As much as that sounds like an amazing idea, Wedge coming in was probably a good thing," she said, kissing him quickly.

"Wedge is never a good thing."

"But he did slow things back down for us," she nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Luke sighed. "We should have dinner tonight, though."

"You asking me on a date, Farmboy?" she asked with a huge grin.

"You betcha, Red," he winked. "I'll meet you at your quarters at 1900."

"So formal," she said. "I'll see you later."

"See you then," he grinned, watching her back out of the room. As the door slid shut behind her, Luke leaned back on his pillows. He'd finally kissed her. They finally had taken that step forward.

He was happy. Probably the happiest he'd ever been. He tried to think back to when he might have been even close to this happy and he remembered his encounter with Vader.

"_No, I am your father."_

Luke squinted his eyes shut. His father. Anakin Skywalker was his father, not the monster who took his hand.

Luke went to reach for his lightsaber to look at it but then remembered he'd lost it with his hand. He sighed. Now he didn't even have one shred of evidence of who his father once was.

_Ben, why didn't you tell me?_

"_A young Jedi by the name Darth Vader, he was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil. He helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father."_

Was Vader telling him the truth, or was Ben? Luke groaned at the dueling truths in his head. He knew who he wanted to be true, but he also knew the undying sense of truth that had flowed off Vader.

Could Darth Vader have once actually been Anakin Skywalker? The man who Luke had looked up to and admired even when all he thought his father was a navigator on a Spice freighter.

Luke groaned and stood up. He had a lot to do before his date with Mara that night.

Mara. How would he tell her? Would she even be able to look at him the same if she knew his true parentage? Would Leia be able to stand his presence knowing that Darth Vader, the man who tortured her and allowed her home planet to be blown up, was his father?

He couldn't think about this now. It would only sour his mood. Today was a happy day for him, and he had a lot to accomplish.

Luke exited his quarters and started heading towards the kitchen area. He knew for a fact that there was a sweet older Tatooine woman who he'd met after the Battle of Yavin. They'd talked for hours over the different things they missed and didn't miss of the dustball.

The top of the list was Aunt Beru's Bantha Stew.

He entered the mess and leaned against the Transparisteel window that separated the kitchen area from the mess. He caught sight of her graying blonde streaked hair and grinned, waiting for her to see him. She turned and a smile lit up on face.

"Luke!" she called out, whipping her hands on a cloth and walking towards him.

"Hey, Sarhii," he smiled. "They working you to death here yet?"

"Not as much as you, I'm sure," she smiled warmly. "I heard about everything that went down with Vader."

Luke winced. She hadn't quite heard everything that was for sure. "Yeah, I guess word spread fairly quickly."

"Yes, but I also heard that Command sprung for a higher end hand for you," she told him. "Supposed to be top of the line."

Luke looked down at his new hand and shrugged. "I guess. It feels alright, y'know?"

"I don't but I'll take your word for it," she chuckled. "Now, you're not here to just talk about the latest in limb replacement. What can I do for you?"

"I need a couple of servings of your fine Bantha Stew," he said.

"So the rumors are true?" Sarhii asked playfully. "You and the pilot in your Squadron?"

Luke blushed. "Yeah, they're true."

"I'm so happy for you," she smiled. "I was worried when you were moping after the Princess those first few months."

"Leia is too much like a sister to me now, Sarhii," he laughed. "It feels weird to think about her that way."

"But not this pilot?"

"No, not Mara," Luke shook his head. "I'm having a date with her tonight and that's why I came to put in the order for the Stew."

"Well, I'm flattered," Sarhii smiled modestly. "I'm sure things will go fine for you. I'll have the stew ready by 1800, alright?"

"That's perfect!" Luke said. "Thanks so much, Sarhii! You're the best."

"And don't you forget it," she teased as Luke started heading off out of the room. She shook her head at the playful Tatooine native. It was good to see him smiling.

"I won't!" he called back and left the room.

* * *

><p>"So, Mara," Wes Janson said coolly as he slid into the seat next to Mara as she fine-tuned her temporary X-Wing. When it was safe, they would return to Bespin, but until then she was issued an older model.<p>

"What do you want, Janson?" she asked, tightening the connectors to the main thrusters.

"Just want to know if you knew along whether you knew you had the hots for Commander Skywalker before or after you rejected us months ago," he asked smugly. Mara's head snapped to him, anger brewing in her expression.

"Do you want children, Wes?" she asked evenly. He looked taken aback by the sudden change in conversation.

"Uh, sure," he said hesitantly. "Why? You offering or something?"

"Force no!" she laughed darkly. "I just wanted to know before I punch you so hard you can't have children anymore."

Wes's face paled. He took an automatic step back and shifted his hands to guard his groin discreetly.

"Uh, right," he choked out. "So, I guess I'll see you at the next Squadron meeting then."

"Guess so!" she grinned darkly. "So long, Janson."

"Uh, bye, Mara," he smiled weakly before spinning on his heel and walking directly out of the hangar. He brushed past Leia on his way out, barely acknowledging her presence as he passed.

Leia looked after him curiously, before shrugging and finishing her walk to Mara.

"You messing with Wes again?" she asked with a touch of humor in her voice.

"He started it," Mara shrugged, laughing. She checked the different power couplings, adjusting them to work more efficiently.

"Of course," Leia laughed. "So how are you doing?"

Mara looked up and gave the Princess a pointed look. "If you're here to ask me about Luke, yes, the rumors are true. No, I will not give you the inside scoop."

"Actually, I wasn't here about that," Leia admitted, a little shocked at Mara's prepared speech. "But I am happy for you. I actually came to see how you were doing."

"Honestly?" Mara asked, sighing. "I'm annoyed at everyone assuming they know everything that is going on between Luke and me. But for the first time in my life, I am insanely happy. Really."

"Well there's something," Leia smiled. She leaned against the landing gear and crossed her arms.

"What about you, Leia?" Mara asked carefully. Leia's expression flashed with pain quickly before she composed herself.

"I'm alright," she said evenly.

"That's a load of poodoo and you know it."

Leia looked off distantly and her expression scrunched up.

"I miss him so much, Mara. You have no idea how much I miss him," she choked out. Leia's head turned to Mara, and Mara saw how red Leia's eyes were with potential tears.

"I honestly don't know what to tell you that isn't either brutally honest or something you've heard a hundred times over," Mara admitted.

"That alone tells me you care," Leia smiled weakly.

"I do care."

"Thanks, Mara."

"Anytime, Leia. Anytime."

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was also going to be longer, but I didn't have the muse to write it. Also, I'm at my mom's right now, so I'm working off my laptop. For those of you that read my AN and remember, I moved to my dad's. Actually, I'm not fully sure I mentioned that now. . . Anywho, if you don't remember, don't sweat it. An inconsequential detail, really. <strong>

**NEXT CHAPTER: The Date**

**Oh, and guess how excited I am to be playing not only God, but Cockblocker to them as well? Haha!**


	19. Chapter 19

**This is pure fluff. Oh my god, just fluffiness everywhere. Diabetics better have some insulin ready cause this chapter is sickly sweet. It's ridiculous. **

**It's also just after midnight as I post this... So I am a little out of it. But not much!**

**DISCLAIMER: I honestly can not think of something witty. Just... I don't own Star Wars. I edited a new SW video today, but I don't own SW. **

**Oh, and because I have no life, you should totally go check out said video via the YouTube link on my profile. I do tons of videos for SW but I also vid other fandoms too. **

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Nineteen<span>**

Mara shuffled nervously in front of the mirror in her quarters. She pushed her hair into place for the thirtieth time, fidgeting with her appearance. Even though Luke saw her every day, and even when she hadn't had a proper shower in weeks, she was insanely nervous. She really didn't want to screw things up with Luke. They were too fragile still.

The knock on her door came too soon, and still on time. She palmed open the door and saw Luke leaning against the wall casually, looking ever the handsome Farmboy he was.

Luke's expression brightened immediately when he saw her. She wasn't dressed in anything special, and neither was he.

"Hey, Sexy," Luke grinned and Mara raised her eyebrow.

"Sexy? I thought I was Red now?"

"You still are," he chuckled. "But I've wanted to say that for a very long time."

"Smooth, really," she laughed. Luke pushed himself off the wall and leaned in towards her, cupping her neck in his hand.

"I try, really I do," he said before kissing her softly. Mara moaned slightly against his lips and pressed herself ever so closer to him. Luke laughed against her lips and pulled away but kept her body close to his. "We should get going."

"Why?" she pouted. "I'm pretty content right here."

"Well, I'll be heading this way," he said, backing away and throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "You may join me if you'd like."

"Nah," she waved dismissively. "I heard Wedge is throwing a pretty wicked Sabacc game right now and I thought I'd teach the boys how to drink."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged and spun on his heel. He walked a few steps before glancing over his shoulder.

Mara stood there with a smirk and her arms crossed. She wasn't going to give in first.

"I'm the one with the food, you know?" Luke taunted.

"If that's your only quality then I'm better off at the Sabacc game," she teased.

"I bet Hobbie is a far worse kisser than I am."

"We'll see won't we?"

"That a threat?"

"Are you jealous?"

"A little."

Mara burst out laughing and walked towards him and leaned up against Luke. "You have nothing to be jealous of, Farmboy."

"That makes two of us, Red," he whispered and kissed her again.

"So where are we going then?" she asked, wrapping an arm around Luke's waist. He threw his own arm around her shoulders and grinned.

"You'll like it," he said.

"Will I now?" she asked playfully. He nodded firmly and led her towards the lift. They got in and Luke pressed the button for the upper floor of the command ship. The door slid shut and the lift began moving. Luke leaned against one of the walls casually as if he belonged there.

"So, Farmboy," she started, smirking at him. "What's your master plan for this date?"

"It's a surprise," he said, giving her a pointed look. Mara raised an eyebrow and walked up to him, pressing her body against his and running her hands down his chest. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and saw Luke visibly gulp.

"Please, tell me," she begged quietly. Luke closed his eyes and ran through calming techniques in his mind. "Luuukkke..."

"That's cheating," he forced out as she ran her finger along a vein in his neck.

"I don't know, you seem to like it," she grinned and Luke blushed. He looked towards the holo projecting from the wall that listed the level they were on. They were nearly halfway up the massive ship.

"Mara," he said but she cut him off by trailing kisses up his neck. He closed his eyes as his breathing grew heavy.

"Tell me, Luke," she said and ran her hand down his bicep.

"No... surprise," he choked out.

"Mmm," she moaned against his neck and Luke's hand trailed along her waist and pulled her closer to him of its own accord. "Luke..."

Luke bent his neck down and caught Mara's lips in his own. He pushed her back across the lift and pinned her against the wall.

"Didn't know you liked it rough, Farmboy," she smirked and captured Luke's lips again.

"Mmm, we're both full of surprises aren't we?" he mumbled against her lips. His hand trailed along the hem of her shirt, playing with the smooth skin at her hip. Mara moaned against Luke's lips and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his hips.

Electricity shot through her as Luke's lips trailed down her neck. She could feel him against her thigh and she moaned again as his fingers danced up her ribs.

The lift jerked to a stop with a soft 'ding' and the door slid open. Luke groaned and bent his head in the crook of her shoulder.

"I think we should probably leave the lift at some point," she said lightly.

Luke smirked and looked up. "I thought you were enjoying yourself in here?"

"I figure we'd be more comfortable enjoying ourselves somewhere more private instead," she shrugged, sliding down off his hips. "But first we have a date."

"We do indeed," he nodded and gestured for her to exit the lift ahead of him. She smiled and walked past, grabbing his hand on the way out. Luke led her down a hall and into a spare conference room. The table that normally lay in the middle of the room with the chairs positioned around instead was pushed against the wall with the chairs stacked on top of it. In the center of the room instead was a large quilted blanket with two candles in large transparisteel jars positioned on the far side. A small picnic basket lay off to one side with two wine glasses and a bottle of Sullustian Wine. The whole ensemble was in front of a large view port overlooking the various near-by systems. At the current moment they weren't in a particular system to avoid detection by the Empire, so there were no planets or stars obstructing their view of the Outer Rim.

"Oh, my," Mara breathed. She felt Luke's hand tighten around her own as he led her further into the room.

"This is pretty much the most romantic the Alliance ever gets," Luke shrugged. "But I figured you'd enjoy the view if nothing else."

"I bet I'll enjoy the company more," she said with a smiled. "Thank you, Luke. For doing this for me."

"I have to impress you somehow," Luke laughed. "Fancy Force tricks won't work on you."

She burst out laughing and rolled her eyes. They sat down on the blanket facing the stars and Luke poured them each a glass of wine.

"I know a woman down in the Kitchen and she got me the food especially for this," Luke explained as he reached into the picnic basket and pulled out two temperature-secure containers. He pulled the lids off and revealed the Bantha Stew he'd ordered hours earlier. "Sarhii makes the best Bantha Stew outside Tatooine. I don't know if you'd ever had it, but this stuff is better than Nerf in my opinion. Leia will argue that into a black hole with me, but it's true."

"I've never had bantha, actually," she said and he looked up and grinned at her.

"Then this will be fun," he said. He handed her a spoon and she took it and picked up her bowl of Stew. She took a bite and widened her eyes at Luke.

"Oh my gods! This is fantastic," she cried out. "Wow!"

"Yeah, I know," he nodded, taking a bite of his own stew. "Believe it or not, my Aunt Beru makes a meaner stew than this, but this is pretty close."

"I can't imagine anything better than this."

He laughed. "Well, I guess I'll just have to keep working at that, won't I?"

"I guess so," she agreed and took another bite. The two finished up their stew and were on their second glass of wine before one of the candles snuffed out. The room was suddenly considerably darker, and set a heavier mood to things.

Mara leaned back against the blanket, grinning happily. Luke propped himself on his elbow and smiled down at her. Her red hair was fanned around her head haphazardly, giving her a fiery halo.

Mara turned her head slightly to look up at Luke. "What?"

"You're gorgeous, you know that?" he asked and she giggled slightly and shook her head. "It's true. When we were on Dagobah, and I told you I thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, I wasn't lying."

She smiled up at him. "I think I'm in love with you."

Her eyes widened and fear crossed her face as she realized she'd let that slip. She panicked slightly in wonder as to how he'd take the admission.

Luke grinned and leaned down and caught her lips with his own. She kissed back with fervor, holding and hand to his cheek to keep him there. When he pulled back up to stare down at her, she held her breath. Luke smiled slightly and he blushed. "I think I fell in love with you the moment Leia led you out of the training room to be interrogated. I was so scared I'd never see you again and that I'd never get the chance to tell you how much I cared."

A tear ran down her cheek at Luke's admission.

"No one's ever loved me before," she whispered. "Never."

Luke kissed her again, trying to make up for all those years where she was merely a tool to the Empire; to Emperor. Mara wrapped her arm around Luke's neck, pulling him closed to her. He lost his balance off his elbow and caught himself with his artificial hand on the other side of her to keep from crushing her. Mara arched her back up against him, trying to close any space between them at all.

"Mara," Luke panted against her lips. She re-caught his lips again and clutched at his arm. He forgot about what he was going to say and ran his hand down to her waist, playing with them hem of her shirt again.

"Luke," Mara whispered against his lips as her ran his hand along her ribs. She lifted her knee up and ran it along between his legs. Luke's lips trailed down her neck and he pulled at her shirt collar to reach her collar bone. She moaned and ran a hand up through his hair.

Mara's moan triggered his memory and he pulled back to see her face.

"Mara," he said but she kissed him again. "Mara, really," he said again and she pulled back and looked up at him.

"What? Did I do something..." she left the question open-ended.

"Oh! No, no, no, everything is fine. Really," he assured her. "Just, I don't think we should be doing this so soon, and while we have two glasses of wine in our system."

She scrunched her face up and nodded in agreement. "Right, that actually makes sense."

"It's not that I wouldn't love to right now," Luke said and she smirked. "But I don't want us to have any regrets, and I think we'd regret things a little if we were slightly inebriated. I don't want something like that to be muddled."

She stared off at a corner for a moment as Luke's words rang through her head. He wasn't rejecting her, he was being a gentleman. The part of her that was still buzzing with electricity from a few moments ago was yelling at her to say 'Kriff it' and go back to making out with him.

She turned and smiled at him and grabbed his hand. "Thank you, Luke."

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For being the perfect guy."

Pain flashed across his face as Luke remember his encounter with Vader again.

"_No, I am your father!"_

"What?" Mara asked, seeing his expression and catching the whiff of anguish through the Force.

"Nothing," he said. "I'll tell you sometime later so things aren't ruined now."

"You're not gay, are you?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"What?" he asked, eyes wide. "Why would you think...? No! I'm am straight. Have you been talking to Wedge or something? Because he claims to be one of my best friends, but his sense of humor is slightly warped."

"No," she laughed. "It was the first thing that came to mind, really. I swear!"

"Okay," Luke said, giving her a wary look. He turned and stuffed the empty containers back in the picnic basket. Mara grabbed the wine and glasses, and Luke threw the blanket over his arm. They left the room in silence and headed towards the lift. The door slid open and they entered, Mara using her free hand to press the level of their quarters.

A few moments of silence passed before she spoke up again. "I had an amazing time tonight, Luke."

He flashed her a cocky grin. "I aim to please."

"You hang out with too many Corellians, Farmboy."

"Eh," he shrugged. "They have the best booze, Red."

"I will not deny you there," she agreed with a laugh. Their laughter calmed down and they lapsed into silence, the only sound the quiet hum of the repulsors.

"I'm really glad you had a good time," he said. "We should do this again."

"Get buzzed and make out, or dinner?" she joked. He chuckled.

"Dinner, but I'd do for the making out some more too," he said.

"Me too," she smiled and the lift jerked to a top. The same 'ding' from before sounded and the door opened up to the hallway. They passed Luke's door first and her stopped to drop off the supplies before heading towards Mara's door.

They came to a stop and she turned and smiled up at him.

"I love you," Luke said with a smiled, leaning down and kissing Mara gently on the lips. It lacked the fire they'd had before, but it still sent a buzz all the way down to her toes. He pulled back and grinned like a fifteen year-old boy at her.

"Love you, Luke," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," he murmured as she palmed open the door and slid into her room. Their eyes locked as the door shut and Luke turned and walked happily back down the hall.

* * *

><p><strong>And we have concluded date number one! I don't really have any super solid plans for the coming chapters other than what I know needs to happen and a general idea of how I want to get them to RotJ. But we basically still have a year GSC time. Or canon time. Whichever way you want to look at it. <strong>

**And no, I don't think they should've slept together on the first date. It didn't seem right to me. Too American television for my tastes. Which, coming from an American...**

**I honestly wanted to call sex something referring to monkeys just now, but I couldn't remember the quote. I would have been quoting Pandora on Skins, Series 3. If you've never seen that show, you must. All the episodes are on YouTube, and I know that the first 3 series are on Netflix Watch Instantly. I love that show. It is amazing. You should also check out Misfits. Effing Hilarious, really. Give them a try. They are heavy on language, drugs and sexual references. So if that's not really your cup of tea, I guess don't watch it, but I still recommend you try it. **

**Anyways... Back to MtR. I don't have the next chapter written, so I won't be posting a teaser sentence thingy. Oh well. I'm lucky I got this out on time. No Muse. At all. The only Muse I have is the band. And I don't own them either. Damn. **


	20. Chapter 20

**This is a really short chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer. I just had major writer's block for this and I just needed to put it out there and then move on to the next one. Which is what I did.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own a Star Wars folder for the upcoming school year, but not the movie!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Twenty<span>**

"Imperial Presence has increased around Tatooine," General Rieekan stated, looking over the plotting board.

"Did Lando and Chewie get tailed?" Leia asked from her spot next to the General.

"No, the forces appeared far too late for them to have tailed the _Falcon _there," he said, furrowing his brow in concentration. "I'd wager that Vader positioned the fleet here in preparation that you might send a rescue mission for Captain Solo."

"And that's exactly what we're doing," Leia sighed, putting her face in her hands.

"Lando and Chewbacca will monitor the state of Captain Solo and Jabba the Hutt's Palace," Rieekan comforted. "Captain Solo will be fine until the Imperial Presence shifts."

"That could be years," she realized aloud.

"Oh, Lelila," Rieekan sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll get him back for you, don't worry."

"I know," she said. "Thank you."

"Any time," he nodded with a smile.

* * *

><p>"Favorite color?" Mara asked, taking a bite of her cold ice cream.<p>

"Green," Luke answered automatically. "Yours?"

"I'm thinkin' purple," she grinned. She was sitting on Luke's lap on his bed. The two were hiding out and enjoying some ice cream brought in on the last supply run, getting to know each other better.

"Really?" he asked. "I never would have pegged you for such a girly color."

"Girly? Really?" she asked. "And what about you? Green? How original!"

"For your information, I happen to love the color," he said smugly. "It's the color of your eyes."

"And my last name you sap," she teased and kissed him chastely. "Planet you most want to visit?"

"Naboo," he grinned.

"Ah, Farmboy loves water," she grinned knowingly.

"I've always been fascinated with it," he shrugged. "What about you?"

"Corellia. I've always wanted to go there and see why Han and Wedge are always boasting about it," she nodded.

"We'll go together then," Luke grinned. "As soon as the war is over."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

Luke kissed her softly, and she brought a hand up to lay on his cheek. He pulled back and asked, "One secret about you I don't know?"

"A secret?" she asked wide eyed. "Hmmm, let's see." She thought for a long moment and grinned. "Yoda told me it was okay to be attached to you."

"What?" he asked, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "While you were in the Dark Side Cave."

"Wow," he said. "Yoda: The Matchmaker."

Mara burst out laughing and pushed Luke's shoulder playfully.

"So, what's your secret, Farmboy?" she asked, still grinning. Luke thought of a good secret to tell her and landed on Vader.

"_No, I am your father."_

"Luke?" Mara waved a hand in front of his face. He jumped slightly and looked at her. "Where'd you go just now?"

He shook his head to clear it. She needed to know.

He inhaled deeply and looked at her seriously.

"Remember how I told you the other night that I'd tell you something later so it didn't spoil the mood?"

"Yeah," she said hesitantly.

"Well," he started. "I... I found out my father is still alive."

What?" Her mouth gaped open and then formed into a wide smile. "Luke, that's great!"

"No, no, there's more," he sighed. "I... My father... he... He's Darth Vader."

Mara's grin faltered and she looked at him slightly confused. "What? Luke... how do you..."

"He told me," Luke finished. "After he chopped off my hand at Cloud City. He told me he was my father."

"But I thought you said Ben told you Vader killed your father?"

"He did," Luke sighed and put his head in his hands. "Someone's lying to me. I think it's Ben, and that hurts so much. Even Yoda is in on it."

"Yoda," she shook her head. "Luke, I'm so sorry."

She rubbed her hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her.

"You're not disgusted with me?"

"What?" she asked, completely caught off guard. "Luke, how can you think so little of me that this fact changes how I feel about you?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess since I can't take it I figured others might not be able to either."

"Luke, we don't choose our parents."

"Yeah," he nodded. "But, what if I become him? What if I fall just like he did?"

"You won't."

"You can't know that!" he cried out. "I saw it, in the Dark Side Cave! I saw Vader, and when I killed him, his mask blew off and revealed me. It revealed me as Vader. What if I become him?"

"You won't," she said again firmly. "You're stronger than him. Way stronger."

"But-"

"No buts," she said. "I saw Vader in the Dark Side Cave too, you know."

"What?"

"He told me something," she explained. "After he morphed into what he looked like before the suit. Now that I think about it, Luke you two look so much alike. Same eyes and hair. Similar facial features... But he told me something. He said, 'You don't know the truth. The truth is the weakness'."

"The truth?" he asked.

"I think it means that now that you know that Vader is your father, and he knows you're his son, we can use it against him," she said. "I think we can take him down."

"Mara," he started shyly. "Do you think we could turn him back to the light?"

"You mean can we do something that has never happened in Galactic History before?"

"I wouldn't phrase it like that, but yeah," he nodded and looked at her. "Do you think we could turn him back to Anakin Skywalker?"

She sighed. "I don't know Luke. That man is really angry. He's one of the most powerful sith ever, and he is just trapped by the suit."

"But he was once a great Jedi Knight," he insisted. "He was good for the first 20 something years of his life."

"And he's been evil for the last, well, how old are you? Twenty-Three?" she pointed out.

"Mara, I think we can do this," he said. "I feel it so strongly. I think the Force wants us to return him to the light."

"But the Republic will charge him with war crimes regardless of his status in the Force," she explained. "Even if we succeed, he will still be trapped by the laws of the Republic. He won't magically become the father you never had, Luke. You need to understand this."

Luke sighed and leaned his head back on the wall behind him. "I need to try, Mara."

"I know," she said. "And I'll help you. I just don't want you to have a grand fantasy of playing Smashball in some field on Naboo."

"I won't," he assured her. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Farmboy," she grinned and kissed him on the lips. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She straddled his lap and clung to his neck as they kissed. Mara moaned as Luke's lips traveled down her neck some, seeking out her collar bone.

A knock on the door sounded and Luke groaned quietly. "Every time, every-kriffing-time..." he mumbled under his breath as Mara got off his lap and he headed to the door to unlock it. He palmed it open and saw Leia standing on the other side.

"Hey, Leia," he smiled and gestured for her to come in. Leia saw Mara sitting cross-legged on Luke's bed and bit her lip before smiling apologetically to Luke.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to let you guys know the current situation on Tatooine," she said.

"No, sure," he grinned and leaned up against his wardrobe. "Did Lando infiltrate the Palace yet?"

"I don't know," she said. "But the Imperial Fleet has taken up guard around the Tatoo system, mainly Tatooine."

"Damn," Luke said and ran a hand through his hair. "Vader knows we plan to rescue him."

"And he's setting a trap to catch us," Leia finished. "He mostly wants you Luke."

"I know," he nodded.

"So what do we do?" Mara asked.

"We wait it out then," Luke shrugged. "There's nothing we can do. We just need to wait for the fleet to give up and move along."

"Luke, I'm sure they were appointed by Vader," Leia said. "And you saw his devotion to do anything to trap you for the Emperor."

"They can't stay there forever though, Leia," he said.

"So we just monitor the situation and work out the kinks in the plan with what Lando tells us," Mara said. "It's really the only thing we can do at this point."

"Right," Leia agreed sadly.

"We'll get him back, Ley," Luke told her. "He's our friend too and we want him back almost as much as you do."

Leia smiled. "I know. Thank you."

"Anytime," Mara grinned. Leia nodded and stood to leave.

"I have to get back to command," she said. "We're discussing what system to head to next. For the time it seems that we'll be staying on this ship, but they want to be closer to a planet so the officers can have leave."

"Sounds good to me," Luke shrugged. "I'm tired of breathing this recycled air."

Leia laughed and nodded. "Me too." She turned and exited the room, the door sliding shut behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you go. Now you know the truth behind Mara's vision in the Dark Side Cave, AND they're closer because he told her! <strong>

**NEXT CHAPTER: The Rebellion is getting curious about the Imperial Fleet shifts and what the Empire could be planning, and Luke and Mara grow a little closer.**


	21. Chapter 21

**So I missed an update... Yeah. In my defense I was really busy. Actually, I had this chapter written but not edited so, I was reluctant to post it. But we're back on schedule again, I swear. **

**DISCLAIMER: George owns Star Wars, Rowling owns Potter, and I own this AU.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Twenty-one <span>**

"Anything new on the Tatooine front?" Luke asked, leaning against the plotting table and looking over Leia's shoulder.

The Princess sighed. "No, but there has been a fleet shift in other systems."

"What does that mean for us?"

"That chances are good that they'll leave the Tatoo system," Leia looked up at him with a grim smile. "But it also means they're doing something that requires a lot of troops and security."

"What could they be planning?" Luke wondered aloud.

"It can't be good," Leia sighed. "Mon Mothma already has a legion of Spies infiltrating the Empire at different levels."

"Then we'll figure it out," he nodded. "Any word from Lando yet?"

"He commed me this morning," she said. "We have confirmation of Han being in the Palace. That sick Hutt kept him in Carbonite."

"Why?" Luke asked and Leia flinched.

"Lando says Jabba's got him hooked up to the wall like a piece of art."

Luke huffed out an angry stream of air. "Well, at least Jabba hasn't tossed him into the Rancor Pit."

"He has a Rancor Pit?" Leia asked, flabbergasted. He nodded weakly. "I thought that was rumor..."

"Most of the Hutt rumors aren't, but some are," Luke shrugged. "I've overheard Bounty-Hunters in Anchorhead talk about it."

"Wow," Leia shook her head.

"We'll get him," Luke said firmly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Lando will infiltrate the palace, and when the Imperial Presence dissipate, we'll go to Tatooine straight away and figure out the next plan of attack."

"I know, Luke," she nodded against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and leaned his cheek against it. They stayed like that for awhile before Luke's comm link buzzed. He glanced down at the caller identification and grinned.

"Hey, Red," he said into it. Leia winked at him and headed over towards the computer in the corner to give him some privacy.

"Luke, there seems to be some sort of issue with my X-Wing and the part I need is stuck in the supply room," she said.

"I'll be there in a second," he said before closing the connection and waving good bye to Leia before jogging out of the room. He followed the corridor towards the hangar but veered off to the secluded location of the supply room. He opened the door to the dark and tried to adjust his eye to the sudden lack of light. He could feel that Mara was in the room, but she was shielding her presence some and he couldn't discern as to where in the room she was.

"Mara?" he called out hesitantly. Suddenly, he felt her presence flare up right in front of him, the same moment he felt her lips and body press themselves to him. He was caught off guard for a second before he responded, clutching at her waist and pulling her to him while also running his fingers through her hair.

She groaned at the pleasure he caused by simply playing with her hair. She pushed him up against the door and stood on her tip-toes to make them on more even ground.

She pulled back, panting for breath.

"Wow," Luke said, his breath just as ragged. "What a welcome."

"I thought you'd like it," she teased.

"Did you really have trouble finding a part for your X-Wing or did you just want to see me?"

"See you," she grinned.

"Well hello there," he said playfully. She kissed him again, this time slower and softer. It didn't have the heated passion of the last one.

"You should come over tonight," he said as they pulled back for air again. She raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you plan for us to be doing on this sudden nocturnal date?"

"You know," he shrugged. "I figured I kiss you, woo you some more."

"The perfect gentleman," she laughed and kissed him again.

"But really," he said in between kisses. "You should come over."

"Alright," she said. "It's a deal then."

"Good," he agreed and kissed her again. He held his hands at her waist and pressed her closer to him. She clutched at his neck and held his lips to hers.

All too soon, they broke for air again.

"I don't think we can hide out here too much longer," Luke sighed.

"Why not?" she pouted.

"Because it's 1400 hours and we both have jobs to attend to," he said. "But I'll see you tonight."

"Fine," she sighed and extracted herself from Luke's grip. "I'll come by at 2000."

"I'll see you then," he grinned and kissed her one last time. She slipped out of the room and Luke waited another five minutes before following her out.

He followed the halls back towards the hangar to tinker with his temporary X-Wing. He missed his old ship with all the modifications he'd already made. Increased Fire Power, a more advanced shield generator, Class 2 Hyper drive, and a better computer targeting system.

He ran his hand along the hull of the old fighter and sighed. He wondered when they'd be able to return to Bespin and pick it up. He had promised Yoda that he'd return to complete his training, and he couldn't very well risk crashing the loaned ship like he had his own ship.

"Reminiscing about your ship?" a voice asked and Luke turned and saw Wedge leaning against the landing gear wearing a smirk.

"Don't you know it," Luke laughed. He sighed and glanced back at the borrowed X-Wing. "She just doesn't feel the same, you know?"

"No two ships are alike, despite what the Empire will lead you to believe about it's TIE's," Wedge said. "So how was your little visit with Jade?"

"Does every conversation we have now really have to revolve around her?" Luke asked, slightly annoyed.

"No, but seeing as how you're one of a handful of people getting some on the base..." Wedge trailed off with a shrug.

"I'm not getting any," Luke said automatically before cringing as he realized what he'd said.

"What? How can you be dating that and not tapping that?"

"She's better than that, Wedge," Luke scolded. He gave his right hand man a dark look before turning back to the ship and inspecting the engine. "We're going our own pace."

"Please tell me you at least plan to sleep with her?" Wedge asked with a more apologetic tone. Luke sighed and leaned his head down, closing his eyes. How did he phrase this?

"Yes, okay," Luke said. "I want, and I'm pretty sure she wants to as well. Like I said, we're going our own pace. When it happens, it happens."

"Luke, this isn't something that is just an accident," Wedge said with a smirk. "And it's dorky if you plan things out too like two lovestruck teenagers."

"I planned things out my first time and things went fine," Luke shrugged, twisting his arm into the engine to maneuver the Hydrospanner past various wires.

"Really?" Wedge asked, a tone of surprise touching his voice.

Luke looked up and gave him a curious look. "Why is that so hard to believe? Are you more surprised that I planned something like that or that I've actually slept with someone?"

"I don't know," Wedge scratched the back of his head. "I guess I never assumed that you hadn't slept with someone but since you'd never mentioned anyone, I think I also never assumed that you had."

"Well I have," Luke said into his engine. "We didn't make a big deal about it since she was seeing someone on and off again. I never really told anyone. It wasn't important I guess."

"Who was she?"

"Camie Loneozner," he said simply. "An old crush on Tatooine."

"Wow," Wedge nodded, absorbing the information. "Does Mara know about her?"

"Why?" Luke asked and furrowed his brow. "That happened like five years ago, and last I heard she married the on and off again boyfriend. They were super happy together. They run a bunch of Moisture Farms for TaggeCo."

"It may not seem important, but women will flip over the most inconsequential detail," Wedge shrugged. "You better tell her first before she finds out from someone else."

"Who would tell her? The only other one from our group who joined the Alliance was Biggs," Luke stated. "And no one else knew unless she told Fixer or Tank."

"What in the nine hells kind of name is Fixer and Tank?" Wedge laughed.

"They were nicknames, Hotshot," Luke rolled his eyes. "And I really don't see the point. It was only a crush I had on her for awhile, and she just told me to meet her behind Tosche Station to go back to her place and get her mind off a fight with Fixer."

"That's hardly planning," Wedge remarked.

"Well as it turns out I had to reschedule for a day later because Uncle Owen needed me. So I did plan things," Luke said, then sat up fully and looked off to the side in thought. "Why are we even talking about this again?"

"Because I have a weakness for good gossip," Wedge shrugged. Luke threw him a dirty look before tossing the Hydrospanner back in the tool box and wiping his hands on a rag.

"Look, I've got things to do, Wedge," he said. "I really don't have time to go over my history with you right now. I'm meeting Mara later and I need to shower."

Wedge burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Just the fact you bring up meeting Mara after our conversation," Wedge chuckled. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Grow up. I'm three years younger than you and I'm more mature," he grinned.

"Whatever you say, Man," Wedge patted Luke's shoulder. "Just don't forget about telling Mara about Camila or whoever."

"Camie, and I will," Luke grinned. Wedge nodded and headed out of the hanger leaving Luke to his thoughts. He crawled up the ladder to the cockpit of the ship and sat down with his thoughts. He didn't really think that Camie mattered really at this point since the last time he saw her was the last time Biggs was on Tatooine. Just a day or so before his aunt and uncle were murdered. He tipped his head back and looked up at the durasteel roof of the hangar bay.

"Surprise!"

Luke jumped and snapped his head to the red head grinning madly at him from the ladder of the X-Wing.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked with a smile. Mara shrugged.

"I got out of duty early, figured I'd see how the great Commander Skywalker was fairing," she said.

"I'm fairing better now," he smiled and kissed her. She leaned further into the ship and pulled his neck closer to her.

He moaned slightly and pulled back with a wide grin. "Much better now."

She smirked. "Wanna duck out of here early?"

"Can we do that?" he asked.

"We can do whatever we want," she said. "And personally, I kinda want to be with you for a few extra hours."

"Sounds alright to me," he agreed. He stood up and Mara slid down the ladder, making room for him to exit the ship. Luke threw his arm around her shoulders the second his feet touched the hangar floor and she wrapped her arm around his waist.

"To your quarters?" she asked and Luke grinned.

"Sounds like a plan," he nodded and the two walked out of the hangar bay.

* * *

><p><strong>Completely random and in no way connected to our lovely Galaxy Far Away, but Harry Potter 7 Part 2 was amazing. I saw the midnight showing and it was well worth it. It was fun. I'm sad it's over, but it was a fantastic ending. I've read the books, and they did a great job translating it to screen.<strong>

**Back to Star Wars. Things are lining up here and there and eventually we'll get to Tatooine. I'm thinking a few more chapters. They still have to pick up there ships on Bespin. **

**Review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**We get ever more closer to Return of the Jedi...**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't always own Star Wars, but when I do, I'm George Lucas.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Twenty-Two<span>**

Mara jolted awake, breath heavy and heart pounding a parsec a minute against her ribs. She glanced over and saw Luke laying next to her, his arm thrown casually over the edge of the standard Alliance issued bed, on his stomach. His breath was even, signaling she hadn't woken him up with her.

She ran a hand through her tangled red hair and sighed. She'd had another nightmare. She was hoping that they would stop since she hadn't had one the entire time on Dagobah when she was sleeping next to Luke. There was something soothing about his presence. It calmed her soul and held her close to the light side of the Force.

Luke grunted and rolled on his back with a yawn, kicking at the covers to untangle them from around his legs. His eyes cracked open slightly, and then more when he saw her sitting up.

"Hey," he called out, reaching for her arm. "What are you doing up?"

"Just a dream," she smiled at him, doing her best to reassure him. He didn't buy it though.

"Nightmare?" She nodded. "What was it about?"

"Falling back into Palpatine's clutches," she murmured. Luke pulled her up against his chest and stroked her hair. They were fully clothed, having merely talked until they'd fallen asleep next to each other, but the way he held her was much more intimate than any other time before.

"That'll never happen," he assured her. "I won't let it. You and me, we gotta stick together."

"He killed you, Luke," she said, fighting back tears. "In my dream, he killed you. I felt you die. Gods, it felt so real. I felt your Force signature just scream out and vanish!"

"Hey, hey, calm down," he said. Mara looked up into his eyes. They were watering with unshed tears. "It didn't happen, it was just a dream. Just a dream. We still have a long time before we even confront the Emperor."

"Oh, Luke," she cried out, tears finally spilling over. She buried her head in his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. Luke pushed out with the Force and sent soothing waves to her while simultaneously making his Force Signature brighter and more unblocked than normal to her. Mara relaxed in his arms as she felt the soothing and almost permanent presence that was Luke.

"Better?" he asked and she pulled back and nodded. "Much, thankyou."

"Anytime," he said, and cupped her face in his hand. He stared down at her brilliant green eyes and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away traces of tears. He kissed her lips softly, and Mara fell into the kiss, pressing herself against him in a sudden urgent need to feel him. All of him.

"Mara," Luke moaned out in between kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up his chest before straddling his waist. "Mara, what are you-?"

"Shh," she hushed. "Luke, I want this. I need you."

"Are you sure?" he asked, a little surprised but not against the idea at all. She nodded and kissed him again. He kissed back feverishly and rolled over so he was hovering over her. She arched her back against his, pressing her hips up into his. Luke gasped slightly at the sudden contact but instead ground against her. His fingers trailed along the hemline of her shirt, dancing almost before siding his hands up her waist and to her ribs, pulling the shirt with him.

Mara reached down and pulled up the garment, exposing her bare stomach and bra. Luke leaned down and kissed her on the lips again. They were loosing themselves to passion, and neither could care less.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered as their lips parted slightly. She grinned up at him and placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned in and kissed it.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Not nearly as much as I do, Mara," he whispered back, kissing her again. They fell into passion, each movement met by the other. . .

When Luke woke up the next morning, there was still a part of him that was surprised to find a thin arm draped on his chest. He smiled and looked over at the mop of red hair that was Mara. He leaned back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling, grinning like a mad man.

Mara shifted against him, burrowing her head against his chest before yawning and rubbing her eyes with the hand that was draped on his chest. She looked up at him and grinned.

"Morning," he said.

"Good Morning to you too," she said and leaned up to kiss him. He pulled her up his chest and held her there, deepening the kiss. When they pulled apart for air, she leaned her forehead against his. Her red hair fell and curtained around them. They sat there for a long time, just staring into each others eyes before she smiled and whispered, "Morning," again.

"You already said that," he teased.

"It's a good morning," she countered. "Deserves to be recognized twice."

"Indeed it does," he agreed and kissed her again. "Too bad we don't have private showers."

"Why's that?"

"Cause a shower with you sounds like a good way to make a perfect morning better," he grinned.

"You're worse than a Corellian, you know that?" she laughed and then yelped as he rolled over and pinned her to the mattress underneath him.

"What was that you were saying?" he asked cockily.

"I said," she began, taunting him, "that you're worse than a Corellian."

"You're gonna regret saying that," he threatened lightly.

"I hope so," she grinned and kissed him. He deepened the kiss and they picked up from where they left off the night before...

"Luke!" Leia called out as she spotted him walking down the hallway. He turned and smiled widely as he saw her small form walking briskly towards him.

"Hey, Leia, what's up?" he asked. She grabbed his elbow and steered him into one of the side rooms nearby and locked the door once they were in. "Leia, what's going on?"

"Sorry," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the closed door. "But I'm breaking command code to tell you this. It hasn't been officially announced yet."

"If you're not allowed to tell me, why tell me?" he asked, thoroughly perplexed. Leia never broke out of her facade of stoic High Command.

"Because if anyone needs to be broken code for, it's you," she said. "This is important."

"Alright," Luke said uneasily.

"Luke," she began swallowing down her nervous energy. "Luke, one of our spies reported back on a possibility for the fleet shift."

"Really? That's fantastic," he smiled. Leia shook her head.

"No, they're building another one, Luke!"

"Another what?"

"Death Star."

It felt like all the oxygen got sucked out of the room. The first Death Star was a monstrosity if he'd ever seen one. The ability to blow up planets... well, it was not a good thing, that was for sure.

"They're what?" he choked out, hoping he'd misheard her.

"They're building another battle station with more power than the original," She explained. "Early specs indicate that it has a more precise targeting system, as well as increased power, and it's larger than the first and able to hold enough Troopers to take a system in a week."

Luke leaned back against the wall behind him. He ran a hand through his hair haphazardly, and exhaled a long stream of air.

"If the Empire ever finds our location once it's activated," he started, thinking aloud. "They won't send ground forces or take prisoners. They'll just eliminate us completely."

By the look on Leia's face, she'd already traveled this train of thought.

"Luke, we have to get those plans, and we need to discover what system they're constructing it in."

"We need to get Han," Luke said. "We need to first rescue him, then focus on the Alliance. If the Empire eliminates us first, Han will never be freed of the Carbonite."

Leia's face paled. "Chewie commed yesterday."

"And?"

"He said patrols around Mos Eisely are thinning, but not by much," she said. "We may have a window in a few weeks."

"Keep me updated," he said and Leia nodded. "Han is my friend too. Don't forget I want him back just as much as you do."

"Thanks, Luke," she smiled and hugged him. He grinned and hugged her back, giving her a helpful smile upon release. "I have to get back to Command now. They have me run a control check-in for the various spies. They call when they can, so we have to monitor the lines round the clock."

"Alright," he said. "I'll see you for dinner though. You're losing too much weight."

"I'm fine," she said, immediately the stoic senator.

"Leia, please," he pleaded and her facade softened.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she sighed. "I keep forgetting that you can see through me more than anyone."

"I'm still second to Han," he shrugged with a sly grin. She smiled weakly before looking back to the door for escape. "Go. You have work to do."

"Thanks again," she smiled and palmed open the door. She slid out into the hallway and back the way she'd come immediately. The door remained open, no one having hit the release. Luke leaned against the far wall and watched the various rebels pass by, unaware of the Jedi laying just a few feet over in the darkness.

Luke caught a tremor of Mara's Force Presence and grinned. She was headed this way. He masked himself deeply in the Force and waited for her to pass by the door. She passed the opening and he grabbed her arm and pulled her in, catching her unaware.

He triggered the door using the Force and it slid shut just in time for him to push Mara back against the door.

"You need to work on your Danger Sense," he whispered, inches from her lips.

"I'm an assassin," she whispered back. "My Danger Sense is impeccable. I sense no danger when I'm with you."

"You should," he grinned. Mara tilted her chin up and leaned closer to Luke. He kept their heads inches apart though.

"You're enjoying this far too much."

"You are too, you know it," he teased.

"Am not," she said. "I'd rather be kissing you right now."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "Because personally I'd rather be sleeping with you right now."

"We're in a public room," she said.

"Who said it had to be here?"

"No one," she shrugged. Luke grinned crookedly.

"Wanna go back to my room?" he asked and she bite her lip, trying to arch herself against him.

"You really don't have to ask," she told him.

"I do, otherwise it's assault," he teased. She rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, Farmboy," she said and Luke released her wrists and pulled away from the door.

As soon as Mara was free, she darted forward and kissed Luke feverishly before pulling away abruptly.

"I win," she grinned and Luke stared back at her in surprise. His expression quickly turned predatory as he grinned evilly at her.

"You're gonna regret that, Jade," he threatened and she grinned and pressed her back against the door.

"Am I?" she asked, and palmed the door open, slipping out into the hallway with a playful grin and darting down in the direction of the quarters. Luke shook his head before running after her. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p><strong>I'd like to remind everyone that this is a T fic. <strong>

**Now that that's out of the way! Can we say a big finally? And what about that Death Star? **

**We're going to have a time jump in the next chapter, skipping over six months. From there we start entering just before RotJ. I'm excited. The last few chapters had to happen but they were slow as hell to write. **

**NEXT CHAPTER: Chewie Returns from Tatooine**

**Oh, and I also want to thank you all for reading and reviewing! This is by far my most popular and most successful fic ever, and it means alot that people are actually reading it!**


	23. Chapter 23

**This chapter really doesn't focus on Luke and Mara much, but I did need to explain somethings later on. I'll probably be writing in more Leia/Han interaction later too. After all, they are my favorite couple in the movie. **

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Star Wars, I'd be rich. But I'm not rich, therefore I don't own Star Wars.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Three<strong>

**Six Months Later**

"CHEWIE!"

All heads in the Hangar bay swiveled in the direction of the Former Alderannian Princess running towards the newly landed ship. She launched herself into the arms of the Wookiee, thoroughly happy to see him.

"I've missed you so much, Chewie," she said into his chest and Chewie hugged her tighter, growling out his reply that he'd missed her as well.

"I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow?" she asked, pulling out of the hug. Chewie woofed out a laugh and patted the _Millennium Falcon_ behind him in appreciation. "I should have known you'd take this trip as a chance to push the new Hyperdrive."

Chewie laughed as Luke and Mara jogged up beside them.

"Hey, Chewie, we missed you," Luke told him. Chewie loped Luke into a bone-crushing hug, causing Luke to cough on fur.

Mara giggled until Chewie pulled her to him as well, giving her the same welcome as Leia and Luke.

"Woah, calm down there big guy," she laughed, patting him on the chest. She extricated herself from his grip and stood back next to Luke, unconsciously reaching for her hand as she always did.

Chewie growled out a question and Luke burst out laughing. He was the only one at the present moment who knew Shyriiwook, but Leia had been practicing.

"Yeah, Chewie, we are," Luke laughed and Mara shot him an inquisitive look. He leaned over next to her ear and whispered, "He asked us if we were mates."

Mara reddened and grinned shyly at Chewie who was smiling brightly.

"Why don't we go to the Cafeteria and see if we can scrounge up a table to talk things over at?" Leia suggested and they nodded, following her out of the Hangar. Once they were seated in a darker corner of the Cafeteria, they got down to business.

"What's Lando's current position in Jabba's Palace?" Leia asked, straight to the point. Chewie growled out a response and glanced at Luke for a translation.

"Lando's a guard at the current moment, his true identity undiscovered by Jabba so far," Luke translated.

"We still need to pick up the ships on Bespin," Mara said, glancing at the members of the table. "How's Imperial Presence in that System?"

"Low," Leia responded. "I doubt Vader expects us to return there so soon after just escaping."

"Which is perfect for us," Luke summed up. "We can stop there in the _Falcon _and pick up Mara and my ships and then we can all rendezvous in the Dune Sea."

"Why the Dune Sea?" Mara asked. "Isn't that Tusken Raider land?"

"Unless they've moved back since I've last been there, no," he informed. "Ben pretty much had them terrified of them for who knows what reason. They didn't take too kindly to settlers in the first place, but they really didn't like Ben. I know where his hovel is though. We can use it as a base. Stock up on water and food and we won't even need to go to Anchorhead or Mos Espa for supplies."

"We can store it all in the Smuggling Hold," Leia nodded. "Okay, but how are we actually getting into Jabba's Palace? I really doubt it has any back door that Lando can smuggle us and Han out."

"Through the front door," Mara said automatically. "I hate to say it, but one thing Palpatine's training included was deception. We disguise ourselves in one way or another and infiltrate the Palace."

"Disguise ourselves as what? Jawas?" Leia asked skeptically.

Chewie growled out a suggestion.

"Of course!" Luke said. "Chewie mentioned the bounty on his head because of his affiliation with Han. We collect the bounty on him from Jabba."

"That is one the most stupid ideas I've ever heard," Leia sighed. "We're not going to exchange Chewie for Han."

"No, not exchange," Luke clarified. "We take him in, then we automatically have a link to the prison cells in case one of us is caught. But if we're disguised as a Bounty Hunter, than Jabba will welcome us with open arms."

"Does he even have arms? Like, I know he has appendages, but are they called arms?" Mara asked, furrowing her brow in thought.

"Not the point," Leia reminded. Chewie growled out an affirmative to Mara's inquiry.

"Only one Bounty Hunter would collect though, there are three of us if Chewie plays Bounty," Leia pointed out. Luke pursed his lips in thought. It was a very valid point.

"Dancers," Mara whispered under her breath. She looked up at Luke. "Jabba loves entertainment. One of us can go in as a Dancer."

"No," Luke said flat out. "No way. That is too dangerous. He throws Dancers in the Rancor Pit all the time. And Leia is far too recognizable, sending you in alone."

"Luke, think about it," Leia said. "She could easily go in before we bring in Chewie."

"Too dangerous," he shook his head.

"Luke," Mara started but Luke threw his fist down on the table, silencing everyone.

"Dammit, Mara! When will you ever get some self-preservation?" he yelled out. "I can't risk losing you!"

"And if we don't risk anything, Leia loses Han!" she yelled back. "Now tell me, is that fair to her? Huh? Is not trying at all more unfair than trying and failing? I would go through all this if this was your Carbonite slab up in the Emperor's throne room!"

"But I'm not," Luke said firmly.

"But Han is!" she yelled back.

"Stop this!" Leia cried out. "This isn't helping anyone. I like Mara's idea. She can infiltrate the Palace as a Dancer under some assumed name and then I can come in a day later with Chewie."

"What about me?" Luke asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"You come in the dutiful Jedi friend of Captain Han Solo of the _Millennium Falcon_ seeking his friend's freedom," she said simply. "If that doesn't work, than we move on to more aggressive tactics."

Chewie growled out something.

"Chewie says Jabba will expect a gift in trade," Luke translated.

"The droids," Mara grinned. "We'll steal them back afterwards anyway, and if something goes sour, they're our back up."

Chewie leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. Leia smiled and glanced at the Wookiee. This plan was looking to work. All they had to do was execute it.

* * *

><p>Leia fiddled with her fingers nervously outside the door to Mon Mothma's office. She kept raising and lowering her hand to knock on the door. Finally she raised it once more to knock when a sudden voice made her jump.<p>

"Leia?" Mon Mothma asked, staring curiously at the Princess outside her office door.

"Oh!" Leia said, and then recovered her composure. "I was just here to see you, Mon."

"Well, do come in," the older woman nodded before palming open the door and leading her into the office of cremes and silvers like that of her native planet. "What may I do for you, Princess?"

"I'm here regarding Captain Solo's current predicament," Leia started, and then winced internally at the phrasing.

"You mean as a bounty to Jabba the Hutt," Mothma stated rather than asked. Leia nodded mutely. "Take a seat, Princess. I fear we have much to discuss."

Leia obliged, taking the seat across Mon Mothma's desk as the older woman sat behind it.

"Leia, I presume you wish to rescue him due to your close... friendship," she said coolly.

"That would be correct," Leia nodded. "He is very valuable to the Alliance, being responsible for many of the food and equipment shipments to Hoth."

"But he is still not a member of the Alliance," Mon said evenly. "Leia, surely you have seen the financial reports for the Rebellion. They are in no way limitless. We have barely the funds to feed our followers let alone stage a rescue."

"I'm not here for credits, Mon," Leia clarified. "I'm here for your permission on a month's leave."

"Leia," Mon sighed again. "You're worth so much more."

"Pardon?"

"I know you harbor some sort of romantic feelings for this pilot, but he is that: A Pilot," Mothma said. "A smuggler. He is beneath you."

Leia's jaw dropped. "Since when does rank matter in anything other than the military?"

"You are a Princess, and a very famous one at that," Mon Mothma continued.

"I am famous for being against the Empire to the point of losing my planet," Leia said firmly, fighting to keep her emotions at bay. "That is what I am famous for. I'm not even a real Princess."

"Leia," Mothma began tiredly.

"No," Leia continued. "Did Bail ever tell you that I'm adopted? Hmm?"

Mon Mothma was taken aback. "No, he-"

"Told me Breha was my mother," she finished. "But have you ever wondered why my fair complexion looks nothing like the regular Alderaanian?"

"I-"

"Or why you never knew my mother was pregnant?" she continued.

"Leia-"

"So rank means nothing to me, Mon Mothma, because in reality I am undeserving of the roll thrusted upon me."

"Enough!" Mon yelled. "That is enough. If your father could see you right now he'd be disgraced!"

"No, he'd be patting me on the back for standing up to my ideals."

"Your ideals lost you your Father and your planet's life."

Leia gaped in shock at Mon's audacity. Mon smiled smugly and leaned back in her chair.

"I am afraid I am unable to permit your leave of absence, Princess," Mon said diplomatically. "You are to remain with Command in the Fleet. If you disobey, consequences will ensue. That is an order."

Leia stood silently and nodded to the former Senator and left the office. She walked briskly towards her quarters, fighting tears the whole way. As soon as the door slid shut behind her she broke down, sliding down to the floor in a heap.

She would never forgive herself for Alderaan.

* * *

><p><strong>I've read a couple of stories where Mon Mothma is kinda a bitch about things. And I tend to like them more since that just seems her character to me. I don't know... <strong>

**Luke and Mara will be more prevalent in the next chapter, don't worry. **

**Oh! And, this story has broken 50,000 words. I think that's amazing since I've never written a story this long before. Ever. **

**NEXT CHAPTER: Return to Bespin**


	24. Chapter 24

**I like how this chapter turned out. We're getting into the exciting stuff now! I can't wait!**

**DISCLAIMER: No claim shall be made towards the Wars of the Stars.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Four<strong>

"Are you sure we need all this water, Luke?" Leia asked, carrying yet another gallon of water on board the _Falcon_.

"Definitely," he assured her. "If we get caught in a sandstorm then we can't travel to Anchorhead to purchase some from the local farmers."

"Wouldn't Ben have a Vaporator?" Mara asked, following Leia back down the ramp to retrieve another gallon.

"Theoretically, yes," Luke nodded, walking up the ramp. "But who knows what's happened in the last four years to his property. For all I know, the Raiders have ransacked the place."

"That's the last of it, Luke!" Leia called up the ramp as Luke passed the Gallon to Chewie, who was positioned in the Smuggling Hold.

"Alright!" Luke yelled back. Chewie growled out thankfully and Luke cracked a grin. Mara walked up the ramp to examine the holds and let out a low whistle.

"I am not looking forward to unloading this into Kenobi's hut," she shook her head. Luke wrapped an arm around her and drew her closer, placing a kiss on the side of her head.

"It'll be alright," he said. "This will be the easy part."

"I know," she nodded and leaned her head on his chest. Chewie crawled out of the hold and replaced the floor board. He growled out a question to Luke.

"Yeah, we'll leave in a few minutes," he nodded. "We're just waiting on Leia. She's getting her work in order for while she's gone."

Chewie nodded and headed towards the engine room to do a last minute check up. Always a must with the _Falcon_.

Leia came jogging up the ramp at that moment, slightly winded with her final satchel secured on her back. She grinned sheepishly at Luke as she passed, headed for the Captain's Cabin with her things. Luke and Mara had the only other crew cabin after Chewie.

"Guess it's showtime," Mara murmured and pulled out of the embrace. She gave a weak smile to Luke and headed for the cockpit to warm up the thrusters. He headed back towards the engine room to alert Chewie when he ran into Leia.

"Are we ready to leave?" she asked, caught slightly off guard by Luke's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, Mara is warming things up now," he answered. Leia bit her lip nervously. "Is everything alright?"

Leia snapped her eyes to his and sighed. "I don't have clearance to leave."

"What? But I thought you said...?"

"I lied. Mon Mothma doesn't want me to go," she admitted. "She pulled the Alderaan card on me to get me to stay."

Luke swelled with slight anger towards the Alliance leader. "She what?"

"It doesn't matter," Leia shook her head. "I just need to get off the ground sooner rather than later. I'd rather not be around when Mon Checks her Datapad and finds my message."

"Saying that you'll be back later regardless of the consequences?"

"The one and only," she sighed. The ship shuddered under them slightly as the engines came to life and Chewie passed them on his way to assist Mara in the cockpit.

"We better head up there," Luke sighed. "Are you sure you want to do this? You could be risking your status in the Alliance."

"I've given up too much for the Rebellion," Leia said firmly. "It's time I gave the Rebellion up for me."

Luke smiled and wrapped an arm around Leia's shoulders. "Glad to hear that, Organa."

She grinned up at Luke and let him lead her to the cockpit of the Falcon. They slid into the back seats, and Leia began imputing the coordinates for Bespin.

"Alright, Chewie," Mara said, "let's get out of here. Luke, contact Flight Control and get them to clear us."

He nodded and opened the comm.

"Flight Control, this is the _Falcon_, requesting clearance for departure."

"_Falcon, this is Flight Control," _the operator stated. _"Please state the passengers and planned return."_

"Passengers?" Mara asked. "That's not standard procedure."

"Oh no," Leia groaned quietly. "I'm not here."

"There are three of us, and two droids," Luke replied. "Mara Jade, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker. Estimated return is within a month."

"_Falcon, you are cleared for take off, shields are down."_

"Alright, let's hit this," Mara said and Chewie raised the ship up and through the atmospheric barrier and out into space. "Are the coordinates ready?"

"Navi-Computer is set," Leia replied.

"Okay, activating hyperdrive," she said, and pushed up on the lever. The stars in front of them blurred into streaks and a jolt was felt through the ship as it hit light speed. The swirling blue of Hyperspace was visible in the view port and they relaxed against their seats.

"How long 'till we get there?" Luke asked and Leia glanced at the computer.

"About two hours," she said.

"Are we leaving as soon as the ships are secured or are we waiting a day?" Mara asked.

"I vote we leave as soon as possible," Luke said. "Less time on the ground, the less time Vader can track us."

Chewie growled out in agreement.

"Then it's settled," Leia nodded. She stood and left the cabin, and the droids' bickering could be heard briefly in the distance. Chewie growled out that he would be turning in as well and left Luke and Mara alone in the cockpit.

Luke stood and took Chewie's seat and leaned back lazily.

"Just you and me now," he flirted and Mara rolled her eyes.

"You're horrible," she said.

"What? Can't I make friendly conversation?" he asked innocently.

"Luke, every time we're alone, you are always up to something nefarious. And may I remind you that Han might not take too lightly to knowing what you plan to do in his ship."

"Okay, who said we'd ever tell him, and also, who says he wouldn't high five me?" Luke laughed. Mara rolled her eyes again.

"I'm not doing anything with you in this ship. Anyone can hear us, especially in here where anyone can walk in."

"We can lock the door."

"No."

He laughed and sat up. "I honestly wasn't thinking about that to begin with," he shrugged. "You're the one who thought of it first."

"Likely story," she teased, a hint of a smile pulling at her lips. She stood up and started to leave when Luke swiped out an arm and caught her waist, pulling her down on his lap.

"Farmboy!" she squeaked out as she fell. She slapped him on the chest as she regained her barrings. "This is not helping your case! You shouldn't-"

He cut her off with a kiss which she promptly melted into. She moaned slightly against his lips and pressed herself closer to his chest.

"Maybe we could lock the door," she whispered and Luke let out a throaty chuckle.

"I locked it before our conversation started," he told her with a grin.

"What would Master Yoda say about your use of the Force?" she teased and he laughed and kissed her again, his fingers playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Personally, I'd rather not think about Master Yoda right now..."

* * *

><p>Leia leaned up against the wall of the compound with her arms crossed as she watched Luke and Mara interrogate the flight deck attendant. The attendant pointed off towards one of the round structures that made up the architecture of Cloud City and Luke nodded and thanked him before turning back towards Chewie, Leia and the droids.<p>

"Okay," he said upon reaching them. "That guy said any ships not moved within a week get impounded and sent to a Hangar a few blocks over. We still might be able to get the ships back, but there will probably be a hefty charge. Imperial Credits only. Apparently the Empire has this place under control now."

"I gathered from the troopers," Leia said dryly. They, with the exception of Chewbacca, were wearing clothes typical of that of Cloud City to blend in better.

"Let's keep moving," Mara suggested, pulling a hood over her head.

"I heartily agree," Threepio commented, following the group quickly with Artoo. They left the buildings and into the humid air that made up the city. The streets were rather empty, many people fleeing the compound upon the arrival of the Empire nearly seven months ago.

"I don't like this," Leia said. "Something is off here."

Luke glanced around, wondering if someone had recognized them or was tailing them.

"I gotta agree with the Princess, Luke," Mara murmured.

"Let's just hurry up," he said. "Chewie, why don't you take the droids back to the _Falcon_ and keep the engine warm, just in case."

Chewie nodded and Threepio and Artoo followed the Wookiee, for once in silence.

Leia tugged at her cream colored hood and pulled it tighter around her face. They were risking a lot by returning. They found the Hangar the Attendant had directed them too and went inside.

"Where is everyone?" She asked aloud. The room was eerily silent with rows of various ships lined along the wall. Everything from freighters to star fighters were displayed, and at the very end laid the two X-Wings.

"Can I help you?" a middle aged man asked, coming in from a door behind a desk and a Holo-Terminal.

"We're looking to pick up the two X-Wings you have down there," Luke said, pulling back the hood of his robes and stepping forward.

The man gave them a slight smirk. "Been waiting for you folks to show up," he nodded. "Was worried you wouldn't return."

"How much are the fees?" Luke asked.

"Well," the man sighed, looking in one of the drawers of his desk. "Lord Vader says you alive." The man stood up abruptly and pointed his blaster at them, holding steady.

Luke, Mara and Leia reacted instantly, pointing their own blasters back at the man.

"You Rebels sure are a tricky bunch," the man laughed. "I called back-up a few moments ago. The Empire will reward me well for turning you three in."

"You won't escape with your life," Leia hissed. "The Empire won't keep you around for long."

"Kept me around so far," he shrugged. At that moment the doors at either end of the Hangar flew open and ten troopers on either side flooded into the room, marching forward.

"Set for Stun," the Commander said. "Lord Vader wants them alive!"

Luke shot off a stun blast of his own and took out the man that betrayed them before turning and throwing a heavy Force Push at the closest squad of troopers and knocking them unconscious. The three Rebels darted towards the ships and hid among them for cover while firing back blaster bolts.

"The ships are at the other end of the Hangar," Luke said. "We need to get down there!"

"Leia, comm Chewie, tell him to bring the _Falcon _over," Mara said. "We can't take you out in the X-Wings."

"Right," Leia nodded and called Chewie.

"Kriff this," Mara grunted and re-holstered her blaster and pulling out her lightsaber. She ignited the crimson blade and stepped out slightly from their cover, deflecting the blaster bolts perfectly. She took out half the troops in a fraction of the time as before and was able to clear the way for them to move closer.

"Luke, see if you can run up behind them and surprise them," she called back and Luke darted along the backs of the ship. A few moments later she heard a few clones cry out before Luke pushed them out of their own cover and in front of Mara. She rushed forward and with minimal swipes of her blade took out the last troops.

"Chewie's here!" Leia called. "We'll meet you in the Dune Sea!"

"Be careful!" Luke called back and used a small Force enhanced jump up to the wing of his ship. Mara did the same and soon they were powering up their ships. Leia ran out of the hanger and towards the _Falcon_.

"The _Falcon_ just hit Light speed," Luke said across the comm, feeling Leia's presence disappear.

"Let's join them," she said, and they lifted off, flying out of the Hangar behind one another.

The screeching roar of Twin Ion Engines sounded behind them and Mara cursed.

"TIE's," she hissed.

"I see them," Luke said. "Play bait, I'll see if I can get behind them."

"Roger," she said, pulling away and back towards the planet. Sure enough, two out of the three TIE's that had appeared on their scanners followed her out and with a simple maneuver, Luke took out the TIE following him. He dove down after Mara and hit the first unsuspecting Clone Pilot directly and he exploded into twisted melted shrapnel.

The second one evaded him and Luke only managed to clip it's wing. It spiraled away from Mara before crashing into an air speeder below. He winced at the innocent life lost before focusing back on the present.

"Let's head to Tatooine," he said.

"First time I'll ever be glad to be heading there," Mara joked and led the way out of the atmosphere.

"See you in four hours," Luke said.

"May the Force be with you," she said.

"You too," he said. "Love you."

"Always," she replied simply before pushing up on the lever and lurching her ship into the swirling blue of hyperspace.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that was fun! Little Imperial Entanglement. We'll have a couple of chapters now in Tatooine before we get to Jabba's Palace. This story is winding down, but we still have alot left to cover. Looks like this will take me all the way to the start of school. Kinda fun since I started writing the last week of school...<strong>

**NEXT CHAPTER: Arrival in the Dune Sea and Ben Kenobi's Hovel...**


	25. Chapter 25

**Sorry to be getting this out so late. My Dad has been shutting off my internet in the morning so I'll do my AP work for school. One more month for me before Junior Year. Scary stuff. **

**Anyways, I just got home and edited this chapter for you, and as a special bonus, this is twice as long as normal at 4 thousand words and 10 pages in Open Office. Anyways...**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars, or any other war, land, sea, or space. **

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Twenty-Five<span>**

"Ben's home was not far from here," Luke said, scanning the horizons. "I think it was just up this canyon."

"Let's look in the ships," Leia proposed. "This heat is really getting to me."

"Seriously, Luke," Mara added, fanning herself dramatically. "How did you survive this place?"

He shrugged. "I just always lived here. I don't know."

"Okay, well, let's get going," Leia said, walking back up the ramp and into the _Falcon_. Luke climbed back up the ladder into his X-Wing and pulled it up into the ship. Mara followed suit and Luke was the first to lift up and head out. They flew for a minute or so before Luke came back over the comm.

"I see it, you guys!" Luke announced. "Just over the ridge. Let's land next to it so we don't have to carry the water as far."

"_Roger that,"_ Leia said back. They lowered their ships to the ground and exited, examining Ben's home.

"Looks untouched," Luke surveyed happily. He stepped forward and through the door, surveying inside. "It is. No one's been here."

"Well that's good for us," Leia said gruffly. "Let's get these water jugs unloaded."

They all nodded and with a combined effort had the smuggling holds unloaded within an hour. Leia leaned against the last crate and sighed.

"Let's make a pact to drink all this so we don't have to reload it," she suggested and Chewie woofed out a laugh.

"We probably will," Luke said. He made his way around the secluded home, looking for any details that Ben might have left. He came to the small box that Ben had pulled out his father's lightsaber all those years ago and stopped. He fingered the latched and lifted the old lid, revealing nothing but dried rations, spare canteens, and a woven blanket.

"What'd you find?" Mara asked walking over and looking over his shoulder.

"Nothing," he sighed. "I thought there would be more, since this is where Ben kept my father's lightsaber, but there's nothing here!"

"Maybe he hid things underneath it?" she suggested, smiling deviously. She lifted the packs of rations out and then the various Canteens. As she lifted the blanket up, she heard Luke gasp. Hidden under it was a plethora of various cylinders and power cells. A small metal box lied in the corner, and upon further inspection revealed to be a case with nearly twenty lightsaber crystals.

"He must have been stock piling these since the Empire put a tight lock down on the crystals," Luke summed up.

"Really," Mara said. She lifted the various cylinders and held them in her hands, weighing them.

"Those are the casings," He said.

"I figured that out, Farmboy," she rolled her eyes.

"What'd you find?" Leia asked, walking over to them.

"Everything we need to assemble a lightsaber," Luke replied.

"This is the final test," Mara realized and looked up at Luke. "This is the final trial to becoming a Jedi Knight."

Luke's eyes widened in realization. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I," she nodded.

"Construct new lightsabers," Leia commanded and the two Jedi learners looked up at her. "Construct them. Luke, you need a new blade anyway, and Mara, you need to declare your final independence from Palpatine."

Mara grinned as she examined the casings she held once more. "I like this one," she said, holding up a thinner metal case that fit her hand better. There were thin indents along it, with black rings towards the top.

Luke reached into the box once more and grabbed one of the cylinders for himself. It looked an awful lot like Ben's old blade.

"I'll use this one," Luke nodded. He tossed it up in his hands a few times, testing the weight before smiling.

"We'll start tomorrow," Mara grinned. "For now, I'm hungry. Let's eat!"

* * *

><p>Mara leaned against the side of Ben Kenobi's home and stared up at the stars. She could see Coruscant glowing brightly up in its system, and just a few systems over she could spot Sullust, where the Rebel Fleet currently resided. They looked so close, but she knew that looks were deceiving. They were in reality parsecs away.<p>

"What are you doing out here?" Luke asked, coming out of the Hovel.

She wrapped her arms around herself and smiled at him. "Just looking at the stars."

He stood next to her and looked up, a small smile playing at his lips. "I don't know how often I looked at these and dreamed of becoming an ace pilot in the Academy."

"You probably would've knocked the socks off the commanders," she teased. He smiled at her and blushed slightly in the bright moonlight. Two of the moons were out tonight, the third being in rotation on the other side of the planet. Sometimes Luke found it hard to live on a planet where there weren't nearly as many moons, if any at all. There were dozens of planets out there that had no moons at all, painting the night in total darkness. Other planets had so many moons that it was hard to maneuver down to the surface because of the conflict in gravity.

Mara shivered slightly and Luke wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. She leaned into his embrace, letting the solid sound of his heart calm her. They stood like that for a few minutes before Luke spoke again.

"Let's go into town tomorrow, just you and me," he said.

"I thought you didn't want to because of Imperial Entanglement?"

"Yeah, but Anchorhead isn't all that known for being the worst of Tatooine," he shrugged. "And we'll take extra precautions."

She smiled and looked up at Luke.

"What d'ya say?" he grinned.

"Alright," she smiled. "Maybe you can show me some of your old hang outs."

"There weren't many," he admitted. "Uncle Owen mostly kept me at the Farm. But sometimes I went to Tosche Station or Beggar's Canyon."

"Well, then we should definitely go there," she announced. They looked back up at the sky and saw a bright streak fly across it before disappearing. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah," Luke laughed at Mara's excitement. "There are a lot of asteroids in this quadrant."

"Still," she said, "doesn't it make you feel like a kid again?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "But if I were a kid, I couldn't do this," he said as he kissed her on the lips. Mara fell into the kiss and pressed herself closer to him.

"Hey! You guys out here?" Leia called, exiting the hovel. Luke and Mara jumped apart like two caught teenagers and blushed. Leia smirked at the pair. "We're turning the sensors on, you guys coming in?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded, and grabbed Mara's hand. He pulled her along and into the hovel behind Leia. A small encampment was set up in the living room with several blankets strewn on the floor and any cushions placed around to resemble pillows. "We're sleeping in the living room?"

"Yeah," Leia said. "The bed is falling apart, I didn't want to risk it. These are all the blankets I could find."

"Alright," Luke shrugged. He glanced over in the corner where an already softly snoring Wookiee lay with his hands behind his head. He cracked a grin at the sight and glanced down at the floor. Mara was rifling through her bag for her sleep shorts and tank and Leia was just heading off to one of the other rooms to change. He shrugged and grabbed his sleep pants out of his bag and as Leia disappeared around the corner he quickly began changing.

"Luke!" Mara hissed, trying not to wake Chewie.

"What?"

"You're changing in here?" she asked, a tone of disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah..." he drew out, wondering what her problem was.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to sleep in my day clothes?" he asked, and began tugging on his sleep pants.

"But Leia could come back at any moment!"

"Which is why I'm changing now," he shrugged and pulled off his tunic. He tossed the article of clothes over towards his bag and laid down on the ground. Mara rolled her eyes and threw her hands up, before grabbing her clothes and stalked off towards where Leia had gone to change. A few moments later, Leia came around the corner and stopped as she saw Luke sitting there in his sleep clothes.

"Did you change out here?"

"Yeah, why?" he asked.

She hesitated before shrugging and mumbling out a "no reason" and sitting down. Luke gave up trying to figure out what their aversion to him changing in the main area was and sat down. Mara joined them a second later, lying down next to Luke. He waved his hand and shut off the light before wrapping an arm around Mara and pulling her close. She moved closer into the embrace. The soft sounds of Chewie's snores filled the room and soon they were all asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Mara woke up with Luke's arm around her waist, holding her to him firmly. She relaxed against him and sighed before opening her eyes again and looking around.<p>

"Morning," Leia whispered from across the room, startling Mara.

"Morning," she replied once she'd calmed down. "What time is it?"

"Just after 0700," Leia said. "You looked comfortable, I didn't feel like disturbing you."

"I appreciate that," Mara grinned, leaning her head back on Luke's chest. She noted the forlorn look in Leia's eyes and mentally kicked herself. "We'll get him back, Leia."

Leia snapped her eyes to attention, the mask falling back in place. "I know," she said, almost unconvincingly.

"Leia," Mara insisted. "You gotta believe we will."

"I know," Leia sighed. She sat down on the ground not to far from Mara and leaned against the wall. "It's just the Empire has taken so much away... Sometimes it just seems simpler to resound myself to failure."

"We'll never win with that attitude," Luke said, catching both women by surprise.

"Sorry for waking you up," Leia said ashamedly.

"I've been up for awhile," he shrugged.

"You're incorrigible," Mara teased and turned and kissed him good morning. She paused and made a sour face. "You need to brush."

Leia laughed and shook her head.

Chewie rounded the corner with a tray of food laughing. He growled out something and Luke looked offended.

"Hey, seriously," he cried out. "My breath is not that bad! I don't care how sensitive your nose is, you can't smell it from the kitchen."

Chewie shrugged and Leia and Mara laughed. Luke threw his hands in the air and walked off towards the fresher, muttering how he can't trust anyone.

"That lying Bantha!" Luke cried out and Mara walked over to where he stood. They were in the Garage Port of Ben's home, seeing if there was anything they could use.

"What?" Mara asked looking over Luke's shoulder.

"He told me he needed transport to Mos Eisely to go to Alderaan," Luke explained. "That lying Bantha had a speeder all along!"

Mara reached in and pressed the engine start-up switch and the speeder coughed out a cloud of dust before lifting up off the blocks that held it up.

"Well, it still works," she shrugged. "We can use it when we go to Anchorhead."

"Yeah," Luke pouted, still miffed about Ben Kenobi's white lie.

"I'll go tell Leia where we're going," she said before walking out of the garage and back towards the main house. Luke found the extra fuel cells and placed them in the back compartment in case they ran low. You didn't exactly want to get caught in the middle of the desert a few klicks out from your destination. And you never knew until an hour or so before a Sandstorm would hit. He'd seen the results of travelers that had gotten caught in those. The only thing left to identify them was jewelry.

Artoo rolled into the garage area and twittered out a question. Luke reached for his pocket translator for the droid and nodded.

"Yeah, Artoo, we'll be heading into Anchorhead."

Artoo beeped out another response.

"Thanks, Buddy," Luke grinned and patted the droid on his dome. "You look out for me more than I deserve."

Artoo blew out an electronic raspberry and turned to the speeder. He let out a low whistle.

"Yeah, this thing probably dates back to the clone wars," Luke nodded. "Ben must have bought it just after the instatement of the Empire." He paused for a moment before glancing back at the little astromech. "Artoo, you were around before the Empire, right?"

Artoo beeped out an affirmative.

"Just how old are you?"

Artoo paused and glanced at the speeder, clearly avoiding the question.

"Artoo..." Luke warned. The droid let out an electronic sigh and turned to him. He beeped out a long winded stream of binary and then turned and rolled out of the garage. Luke glanced at the translator and shook his head at the droid's antics.

**That is classified information. I have not received permission to reveal this.**

_Permission_? Luke sighed. As far as he knew, all the droid's previous owners were dead. Leia mentioned Captain Antilles being his last Master, and before that her father was a primary user. She didn't know who came before that, but the droid never gave an inclination to still be serving someone else.

"Credit for your thoughts?"

Luke glanced up and saw Mara standing in her old black jumpsuit with a covering laying back on her shoulders, ready to act as a hood. She even had goggles draped around her neck.

"Hey," he smiled, his eyes roaming appreciatively over her body. "I was just thinking about how much Artoo with holds information from us. I wonder if I could bypass it..."

"Beats me," she shrugged. "I know nothing when it comes to droid maintenance."

"It doesn't matter," he waved dismissively. "Are you ready to go?"

"Ready when you are," she smiled. Luke nodded and headed towards the driver door of the speeder and jumped in, Mara following. He pulled out of the little garage quickly and into the desert, immediately pressing on the thrusters to pick up the speed.

"I missed going this fast," he commented over the sound of the wind. She grinned.

"It's very freeing," she laughed, leaning her head back and catching the warm breeze.

"I used to always go this fast through Beggar's canyon with Biggs and race him. I only lost two races: The first one, and the one where I ran out of fuel."

"Impressive," she nodded. "You'll have to show me this elusive Canyon."

Luke flashed her a grin. "Maybe we could check out my old home, see if my old Skyhopper is still there."

"We should make sure we do," she nodded and grabbed Luke's hand holding it between them as he continued to steer. They lapsed into silence and within ten minutes they saw the outlines of Anchorhead. It wasn't much, just a small settlement, not nearly as large as Mos Espa, and only the size of one of Mos Eisely's ports, but it was home to Luke in some ways still. He'd had good memories there.

Luke pulled into town and parked his speeder next to a sandstone structure.

"Where are we?" Mara asked, looking around and absorbing all the details.

"Tosche station," he answered. "It supplies the power to almost all the settlements around here. People really only came here to buy parts for Vaporators, but my friend Fixer used to work here. We used it as a hangout."

"Wow," she said and they went inside. The cooler air was a welcome indoors, and the place wasn't very well lit, casting an eery shadow among everything.

"Can I help you?" a gruff voice asked from behind one of the counters. They looked over and saw a well weathered man watching them and still focusing on the smashball game on the wall.

"Yeah, do you know if Fixer Loneozner still lives around here?" Luke asked and the man raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, he's actually in town today," the man shrugged. "You just missed him. I think he's heading out to meet his girl at one of the shops around here. I don't know..."

"Does he still work here?" Luke asked and the man shook his head.

"Works for Tagge, of TaggeCo," the man gruffed. "They came in here and started buying up farms. Plan to make a huge business running Vaporators."

"I think I heard he was working there," Luke sighed. "I guess I thought I might still be able to catch him."

"Yeah, well if he stops by, who do I say was looking for him?"

"Luke," he answered simply. The man raised an eyebrow when he received no last name but just shrugged it off.

"Fine, good luck," the man waved dismissively. Luke and Mara turned and walked back out into the sun, squinting at the sudden brightness.

"Where are we going to look for them?" Mara asked as they climbed back into the speeder.

"Well, if we drive down this main stretch of road here," Luke pointed towards a row of shops and buildings, "Then our chances are fairly good that we'll see them."

He started the speeder up and sure enough, within two minutes of driving he spotted them.

"There they are!" he grinned as they walked into a small cantina. Luke parked the speeder out front and they exited, walking into the smoke filled building. Luke thought back to four years ago, when he and Kenobi had entered a cantina much like this one and met Han. It was almost like deja vu. Or a dream. He couldn't decide. He half expected to hear Han off in one corner boasting about his ship...

"_You never heard of the Millennium Falcon? She's the ship that made the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs."_

"There they are," Mara's voice drew him out of his thoughts. He glanced over and saw her gesturing to a table in the back where the two were sitting with someone.

"Wow, that's Deak they're sitting with," Luke grinned. He shook his head and started walking forward, Mara following closely. They walked closer as the group burst out laughing at a joke. Luke smiled as he remembered all the jokes they'd made in the past together.

"You ever finish that pod, Fixer?" he called out and the group silenced and looked up at him.

"Wormie? That you?" Fixer asked as Luke walked closer.

"The one and only," Luke laughed. Fixer stood and got out of the booth before walking straight over and hugging Luke quickly.

"Wow, I haven't seen you since your Aunt and Uncle died," he shook his head in disbelief. "Where've you been this whole time?"

"Around," Luke shrugged, careful not to reveal his status in the Rebellion.

"Kriff, you ain't kidding," Fixer laughed. He glanced over Luke's shoulder and noticed Mara standing there with a small smile on her face. "Kriff, Luke, who's that?"

"Watch it, Fixer," Camie teased, feigning jealousy.

Luke laughed. "This is Mara, Mara, Fixer, Camie and Deak."

"Hey," Deak nodded.

"C'mon," Fixer nodded, "Sit with us, have a drink!"

Luke laughed and took his seat, Mara sliding in next to him.

"So where's Windy?" Luke asked, and a sad smile crossed their faces.

"He got caught up with some Smugglers awhile back," Deak said sadly. "Imps got him on Spice smuggling. He's either dead or in Kessel."

"Wow," Luke shook his head. "That's harsh."

"Anyway," Fixer waved an arm. "Have you been back at the Lars' yet?"

"No, we were heading there later," Luke answered. "Why?"

"Just curious," Fixer shrugged. "The Darklighters found your relatives and buried them in the family plot, next to your grandparents."

"Oh, I'll have to thank them," he nodded.

"I wouldn't head over there," Camie warned, leaning back in the booth. "Ms. Darklighter isn't exactly your biggest fan."

"Why? What did I do?" Luke asked.

"Luke," Fixer said quietly, glancing around the mostly empty cantina. "Pretty much everyone out here has heard about the bounty on your head."

"Oh," Luke said quietly, leaning back. "I see..."

"Yeah," Fixer nodded. "Listen, we don't care so much, but pretty much after news of the battle station that blew up Alderaan hit the Holo, not too much later Bounty Hunters started asking questions about you."

"We all know about how you and Biggs joined the Rebellion," Deak said meekly, always having been the quieter friend.

"Yeah, but Biggs' death wasn't my fault," Luke defended.

"But Ms. Darklighter still blames the Rebellion, and everything associated with it, including you."

"That's not fair," Mara protested. "I read the report as soon as it hit the Empire."

"Frankly, nobody cares what went down," Camie said coolly.

"Watch it, Camie," Luke warned and the girl turned her stare to Luke.

"Or what, Wormie?" she asked. "You'll sic Vader on us?"

"Watch your tone," Mara hissed, her fingers itching to pull a blaster on Camie.

"Listen, _Red_," Camie shot back. "You guys can play Rebels all you want. I could care less, but you guys are making things a lot worse on backwater worlds. The Empire is cracking down hard everywhere looking for you. We have regulations on everything now. Even the water is going to those troopers first."

"Camie," Fixer said, placing a hand on her arm but she shook it off.

"No! Fixer, don't you see what kind of danger we could be in here?" she asked. "We have Bounty Hunters first looking for him dead or alive, now he has a live bounty. The Empire wants him bad right now."

"The Empire wants everyone," Luke said. "Not just me."

"You're top of the list," she said.

"Camie, that's enough," Fixer said harshly.

"Look, Luke, I'm sorry," he sighed. "I don't know why you're back on Tatooine, and I don't pretend to want to know, but as soon as you're done here, please don't come back unless you defeat the Empire."

Luke nodded once. "It was nice seeing you again."

"You too," Fixer nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Mara."

"Likewise," she smiled politely, but turned her harsh gaze back to Camie.

"Keep a leash on her," Camie warned and Mara snapped. She lunged and tried to dive across the table before Luke caught her arms and pulled her back while Fixer hopped in front of Camie to protect her.

"Let me go!" Mara cried, pulling against Luke's grip. "Skywalker, I swear you better let me go!"

"Not gonna do that," he shook his head and pulled her out of the cantina and into the mid-morning suns. Once they were out Mara finally yanked free and stepped away to stare at him.

"You're really gonna take that Bantha Poodoo from her?" she asked, gesturing to the door of the cantina where Camie remained.

"It doesn't matter," Luke said. "I don't care about that."

"And what was with 'Wormie'? Wormie this! Wormie that!" she cried out. "What the hell kind of nickname is that?"

"They used to tease me when I was younger with that, I hated it," Luke said.

"Some friends!" Mara huffed and crossed her arms. "Why give a name like that to someone?"

"It was because I used to have a crush on Camie," he admitted and Mara snapped her attention back to Luke.

"What?"

"When I was younger," Luke waved. "I'd pretty much resounded myself to never getting a chance with her a long time before I left this rock."

Mara stared at him before Luke felt the sudden probe at his thoughts before he could put his shields up.

"You slept with her," she said, slightly astounded.

"Mara, I was 17," he said. "It was a long time ago, and she only used me to get over a fight with Fixer."

Mara turned back to look at the cantina and shook her head.

"Mara," Luke sighed and reached for her. She flinched and pulled away.

"Just... give me a minute," she put her hands up. "I just need to absorb this info."

"She was a long time before I met you," Luke sighed.

"Luke, just..." she trailed off. "Just take me away from here. Let's go to your Uncle's farm. Okay?"

Luke swallowed heavily and nodded and the two of them got in the speeder. They sat in silence as they headed off into the distance. Anchorhead became a small blimp behind them before disappearing behind the sandy hills. Mara scanned the horizon and didn't speak, her back to Luke, so he couldn't see the lone tear that drifted down her face.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't freak out! Wedge warned him, and that was foreboding my folks. I learned about this in the fourth grade. Haha! <strong>

**I doubt the next chapter will be nearly as long as this, but I kinda owe you guys for the less than stellar previous chapters. Those were pretty much just a bridge to Tatooine. I just have to get us up to Jabba's Palace. Oh, which, is fun since I actually don't like RotJ that much. Did I ever mention that? Yeah... least favorite in the OT. In my opinion, it's also the weakest, but I know my sister will defend it for her love of Ewoks. **

**In other, fan fiction news, remember how I pushed you guys reading Alliance of Heros? Well, the sequel was put up just a day or two ago. If you didn't see it on the feed, then you need to go and read it. I seriously love this story. Haha!**

**Also, I encourage you to look up 'Troopers' on YouTube. The one by CollegeHumor. So funny... Total Star Wars parody, and I love it to death. Make sure you watch the eleventh one on their website. That one isn't on YouTube I don't think. **

**This note just keeps going on and on...**

**Okay, in my news, I am totally going to geek out the next week. I just got the book on the making of the original Star Wars (ANH) and I can't wait to read it. I've read the one on the making of ESB, and it was really well written. If you have the time or money, you really should look into getting or borrowing them. The have some really neat pictures and it touches on the little technical things they did to make the movies, including original scripts. Such as Minch Yoda. And Anakin's ghost telling Luke that he had a brother/sister/twin also studying to be a Jedi. The things that almost were... **

**Oh, and the 'I am your father' scene? Filmed ten feet above a pile of mattresses. Just thought I'd let you know. LMAO**

**NEXT CHAPTER: The visit to the Lars' homestead. **


	26. Chapter 26

**Okay, before any of you yell at me for the recent poor timing of updates, let me explain how my summer got really boring! I have work for my AP History class to do during the day so updates will be here when they are. I'll try to update as regularly as I can, and I don't foresee skipping weeks at a time. I'll probably only ever be a day or two late. No crisis.**

**Also, this chapter is short for dramatic effect. Yeah, lame, I know. **

**DISCLAIMER: Ahsoka is Red; Aayla is Blue; Star Wars, you're cool; Too Bad I don't own you. **

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Twenty-Six<span>**

As the speeder pulled to a stop in front of the Lars homestead, the only thing that gave away its abandonment were the smoke stains still prevalent at the entrance.

"This is where you lived?" Mara asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Luke replied distantly. Images of his Aunt and Uncle's bodies laying just out the door flashed through his mind and he had to work to push them out. It did no use to think about that. He walked forward and around the side, immediately noticing the two new headstones.

**Owen Lars, Loving son, Husband, and Uncle**

**Beru Whitesun Lars, Loving Aunt and Wife**

They were buried right next to each other, the same way his grandparents were. The only person on the entire family plot he was truly related to was his Grandmother, Shmi. The mother to his father. The mother to Darth Vader.

"Wow," Mara murmured after a moment and Luke glanced at her.

"What?"

"There is a lot of devotion in this family," she said. "Think about it. Your aunt and uncle took you in, and from what you've told me, they technically weren't even related to you except for the fact that your Uncle's father married your grandmother. They really had no ties to you, but they took you in anyway."

"I guess I never really thought of it that way," Luke admitted, glancing at the horizon. The suns would be setting in a few hours, and the shadows were already growing long.

"C'mon," Mara said, looping her arm around his. "Let's go inside."

Luke nodded, slightly surprised at her behavior since their small... Was it a fight? They didn't argue. Luke pushed the thought away and went down into the underground home. The walls were still charred, and what little furniture they did have was burnt to a degree.

Luke stared around in slight dismay. He'd grown up here. His whole life was this small moisture farm, and now it was gone.

He turned and headed across the quart yard to the living quarters and he flinched as he saw the state of the belongings. The burn damage was less here, but still the Stormtroopers had tossed aside many pieces of belongings. Luke picked up the small Lambada space craft model he'd gotten for his thirteenth birthday, staring at the snapped wing and scorched nose.

Mara squeezed his arm tighter as the advanced through the rooms. Luke hesitated before walking through the doorway into his old bedroom. Droid parts littered the floor and old Holos were smashed.

"It's so weird..." Luke murmured.

"What is?"

"I knew this place was ruined when I first saw it four years ago, but now it's real," he said, and looked back at her. "I lived my whole life here."

"You were lucky to escape that day, Luke," she said, reaching for his hand and clasping it tightly.

"I'm not the only one that escaped, Mara," he said and stared into her jade eyes. "Don't ever forget that."

"I don't think I can," she said, and kissed him once on the lips. He sighed internally that she had forgiven him enough over the Camie situation to show that kind of affection.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as she pulled away.

"For what?"

"For not telling you about my past," he said, knowing she knew what he was referring to. She closed her eyes and looked down.

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you," she whispered. "I was just so angry at her, that the thought of her being able to touch you, to hold you like I can makes my blood boil. I was just so mad at how she was treating you, us, that the thought of you and her..."

"Shh," he shushed. "I know. But it was years before I even thought getting off Tatooine was possible, let alone falling in love with someone as remarkable as you."

Mara looked up into his eyes. "I love you."

"I will always love you," he said, clutching her hands between them. "Always. Don't you forget it. I would travel the galaxy to find you if you were lost."

A sly grin tugged at her mouth as she thought of the idea of spending a lifetime with the man in front of her. The idea was appealing, that was for sure. She almost found herself wishing it to be true. That they could live together outside of hiding... That the Empire was gone... that the rebellion won.

"I like the sound of that," she whispered and leaned her forehead against his. He grinned and closed his eyes, stretching out with the Force and touching the growing bond between them. He pushed on it, enlarging it, and tying it between them. A rush of feelings from Mara came through, filling him up.

Mara gasped slightly as she felt Luke's undying love for her fill her chest with a growing warmth. All the love, the worries of losing her, and the ideas of a life with her. They all connected to her very core, embedding themselves inside.

"Wow," she murmured. The connection between them was greater than any she'd ever felt. Even her forced tie to the Emperor was a miniscule dot compared to this. And she had been able to hear him from anywhere in the galaxy...

"Yeah," he said, breathing heavily. "I didn't know I could do that."

"I didn't know it was possible," she grinned and kissed him roughly on the mouth. "I love you, Skywalker."

"I love you too, Jade."

* * *

><p>"Do you have any idea how to do this?"<p>

"Not one. I think you have to use the Force but I'm not sure."

"It would make sense to."

"Yeah, really. Maybe Ben had some sort of book..."

"Cause that makes sense. Wouldn't they teach this thing in the Temple?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Think about it, Skywalker."

"I can't with you talking in my ear!"

"Fine."

"Stop talking in my head too."

"Only if you stop talking in mine."

"You're incorrigible."

"I know you are but what am I?"

"You two are worse than two year olds!" Leia called from across the room, rubbing her temples to soothe her ever growing headache.

"Sorry," Luke murmured, a blush creeping across his face.

"Luke started it," Mara grumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest like a small child. He huffed in response and went back to fiddling with the lightsaber parts.

"What if we just let the Force tell us what to do?" he asked after a few minutes and closed his eyes. Mara watched as the parts of the lightsaber lifted up and began pulling together, the power cell rotating to link the wires up and the crystal falling into place towards the top of the chosen cylinder.

Leia let out a small gasp as she watched with fascination as Luke focused on the individual parts of the weapon.

Mara pushed at the bond and saw exactly what Luke was doing, and closed her eyes to mimic him. All the individual pieces to the weapon felt alive to her. Every part had a living essence suddenly, and with concentration she manipulated them together.

They sat in silence, their palms upwards and resting on their knees as they controlled the building process. The Force flowing around the room was almost tangible, and to them it was. They could feel everything moving through their bond as they shared power. It was a new experience for both of them, and if Mara felt naive, she'd say it was new for anyone. She could never have imagined the way her and Luke's bond together would have been possible merely a year ago.

But it was.

An hour passed, then two. Chewie and Leia came and went from the small living area, careful not to disturb the two Jedi. At the start of the third hour, the first sun fell beyond the horizon. As the second kissed the horizon, only then did Luke and Mara open their eyes. Floating in front of them were two fully constructed lightsabers.

"What do we do now?" Mara asked in a whisper.

"I think we charge the power cell."

She nodded, reaching out for the blade and taking it out of the air. Closing her eyes once more, she felt the Force flow around her before she channeled it into the weapon. She opened her eyes with a grin.

"I think it's ready," she said.

Luke grinned and grabbed his own weapon out of the air and charging it as she did. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"C'mon," he said, standing up and grabbing her hand. She rose from the floor and followed quickly behind him, out into the twilight air.

Tatooine was one of those odd planets. Its two suns burned brightly in the day and made life nearly miserable with heat, and forcing all inhabitants to live amongst the poles. But as night fell and the moons came out, a chill fell across the land, forcing people inside to avoid the risk of hypothermia. You could go out still of course, but it wasn't recommended in day clothes. The light, loose clothes of the citizens of the desert planet were designed to not trap heat and to keep the body cool, exactly the opposite of what you needed as the suns fell.

Luke pulled Mara out of the old Sandstone home and up to the edge of the cliff face Ben had decided to live on. The second sun, Tatoo II, was falling, nearly halfway below the horizon.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, and she nodded. Together they reached out their blades away from their body. _Are you ready?_ Luke asked through the bond.

_Always._ She sent back, grinning slyly into the sunset. Together they ignited their blades. Emerald and Violet light sprung forth from their lightsabers, humming quietly in the still air.

"You know what this means, right?" Mara asked, glancing at Luke.

"What?" he asked, curious as to where she was taking this.

"Our training is complete," she smiled. "We're Jedi now."

* * *

><p><strong>Fun Trivia fact about the first draft of A New Hope:<strong>

**Anakin was originally King of the Bebers and Luke was Prince. Later, Anakin's name became Justin, essentially making him Justin of the Bebers. **

**Yeah, I know. Lame, but I honestly couldn't stop laughing for like a half hour. It still makes me giggle. In the second draft of ANH though, Leia was Luke's cousin... And George was writing in a romance. Weird, but legal in most states of the US. **

**I'll keep posting cool facts as I read the Making of Star Wars. It's actually about as cool as the Making of ESB. I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll invest in the book for RotJ when it comes out. **

**NEXT CHAPTER: Final Preparations before the Rescue. **


	27. Chapter 27

**Oh my, is it? No, it couldn't be! No wait! It is! It is a chapter update! By the Force...**

**Okay, so this is where the author goes all rambly with apologizes and excuses... Well A)I'm sorry for the wait and B)AP US History homework comes first. Nuff said. **

**Alright then! Last night, I went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw John Williams in Concert. It was amazing. Just amazing. He did an analysis of the Train scene in the beginning of Indiana Jones 3 to explain how music is put into movies and then he performed his explaination with the orchestra. It was so neat. Then of course he played Leia's Theme, my personal favorite of the night. That was powerful live. Then he topped it off with the Star Wars theme set to a montage of Star Wars clips. I nearly cried. So many people in the audience were holding lightsabers that they'd either brought or bought there for all the Star Wars music, it was so cool! Then he did three encores... Imperial March (with all the crowd lightsabers bobbing in time to the beat) and then ET's theme, followed by the Indiana Jones theme.**

**Oh, and as a small tribute to my ten year old potter fan ("We prefer to be called Potterheads!") sister, he also performed Hedwig's theme, which if you didn't know is the song played during the opening title of every Harry Potter movie. That was very neat, I'll admit. I happen to love the Harry Potter movies and knowing Williams scored the first three is so cool. **

**Anyways... Not that I've distracted you from the lateness of this post...**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars, but if I did, Mara would be in the movies.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Seven<strong>

"No."

"C'mon!" Mara sighed, her shoulders dropping in defeat.

"No! I know exactly what kinds of thoughts I'm having about you in that, and I'm not letting all the scum in Jabba's Palace do the same!" Luke explained, his arms crossed in front of him.

"What kind of thoughts would those be?" she asked flirtatiously, walking slowly towards him.

Luke scowled, trying to hide his obvious lust for her.

"C'mon," she said, walking two fingers up his arm and over his shoulder. "You can't hide from me. I can sense all your indecent thoughts through the bond..."

"Can you now?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. Mara nodded, leaning in to kiss his neck where his tunic met it.

"Yes," she whispered between kisses. Luke could feel his resolve failing.

"Mara, stop," he pleaded, trying to push her away lightly.

"Not Mara, Arica," she whispered.

"Arica, I can't cheat on my girlfriend," he laughed and she pulled away with a grin.

"No fun," she pouted teasingly. "Tell me you at least like my outfit."

Luke looked down again at her wardrobe. It was blue in tone, with silk barely covering her breasts before turning into a shear fabric that fell across her stomach. There was a shorter blue skirt that draped across her hips to her upper thighs and down at an angle.

Luke grinned. "I love your outfit."

She grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "Good! Now wait till I tell your girlfriend about this..."

She walked off, her hips swaying back and forth with each step as she returned back to the fresher to change back into her tunic and pants.

Luke shook his head. Mara was headstrong, tomboy when she wanted. But in a split second she was the sexy siren from a Corellian Hell. He wasn't quite sure what he liked better. . .

Leia walked in at that moment carrying a box and setting it down on the table. Chewie followed a second later with Artoo and Threepio, the latter bickering incessantly with the Astromech.

"Everything in order then?" Luke asked, and Leia sighed. She sat down in one of the chairs and opened the box, revealing an outfit of cloth and leather, with a mask.

"I think so," she said. "This mask has a voice changer and the outfit has a belt for weapons. Chewie said Han had a Thermal Detonator stored in his cabin. I can use that to impress Jabba."

"He'll like that," Mara said, the door to the fresher swishing shut behind her. She sat down in the seat next to Luke and tossed her dancing outfit on the table.

"I thought so," Leia nodded. "How are you getting in?"

"Lando said Jabba is low on dancers," she replied. "Lando will let me in and I present myself to Jabba."

"I still don't like it," Luke huffed.

"Lando will protect me," she insisted.

"Lando shouldn't have to protect you," he told her. "I should be there."

"You will," Mara grinned.

"We'll send the droids in a day later, and then a few hours after that I bring Chewie in," Leia said.

"Do you have the binders?" Luke asked and Chewie growled and held up a set of gold cuffs.

"Everything is in order," Leia assured.

"Not quite," Luke said. "I was fiddling around with Artoo the other day, working on cleaning some of the dust out of him when I discovered a compartment in his dome. Artoo, come over here!"

The blue and white droid obeyed with a quick tweet and rolled to a stop next to Luke.

"See here," Luke said, pressing the top of his dome lightly. A small flap opened and revealed a storage compartment. "It fits a lightsaber easily. I figured we could store Mara and my blades in here until we spring the trap."

"That's perfect!" Mara grinned.

"I know," he nodded. "After that I'll record a hologram for Jabba to see if he'll release Han first. Worst comes to worse, he'll be expecting my arrival."

"That ties up the loose ends," Leia nodded. "We'll infiltrate the Palace tomorrow."

They all nodded, standing to prepare last minute things. They were moving the ships closer to the Palace tomorrow as well, and using them as a base. Chewie left to prep the Falcon for a few days stay in the desert and Mara went off to prep the X-Wings. As Leia began to leave, Luke grabbed her wrist and held her back.

"Leia," he said quietly. "I know you're excited to get Han back, but whatever you do, stick to the plan. Don't get ahead of yourself. Jabba is tricky, vile, and predatory. Even if he looks fairly harmless, he's powerful. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'll be fine, Luke," she said.

"Promise me you'll stick to the plan," he insisted.

"Everything will work out," she said, slipping out of his grip and out of the room. It didn't escape Luke's attention that she never promised anything...

Mara stood in the shadows behind Jabba as the screams of an unfortunate Twi'lek dancer came from the Rancor Pit beneath the floor. She glanced toward Lando, who stood near the door with a large mask to hide his features, sharing a small but disgusted look with him. Blaster fire sounded from the doorway and a guard rolled down the stairs with a grunt. A bounty hunter entered with Chewie in tow, an air of importance about them. It was show time.

"I have come for the bounty on this wookiee," the bounty hunter announced. Mara glanced at Jabba, and the giant slug leaned back slightly with a satisfied smile on his rounded face.

"At last we have the mighty Chewbacca," he boasted happily in Huttese. He tilted his head slightly called out once more for Threepio to translate. The golden protocol droid wobbled up quickly, an air of mild panic still about him.

"I am here, Your Worshipfulness," Threepio said, standing right next to the Hutt. Jabba said something more and Threepio turned to the visitors. "The illustrious Jabba bids you welcome and would gladly pay you the reward of ten thousand."

"I want 50,000, no less," the bounty hunter said, its voice rumbling through the mask. Jabba cried out in outrage as Threepio spoke to him and pushed him off the pedestal. The droid gave a slight cry as he fell backwards and out of sight. Threepio stood up and hobbled in front of Jabba, green slime sticking to parts of him.

"Oh, what did I say?" he moaned. Jabba barked out a response to the bounty hunter and Threepio turned to them. "The Mighty Jabba asks why he must make it 50,000."

The bounty hunter gave out a slightly proud response and revealed a small cylindrical orb from his pocket.

"Because he's holding a thermal detonator!" Threepio cried out, throwing his hands up in the air in panic.

The palace erupted in panic, people diving behind pillars and such. Mara shrank behind Jabba in mock fear, noting Lando's defensive stance as role of guard, and in the back corner, Boba Fett's pointed gun.

It was Jabba's booming laugh that silenced the panic. "Marushani rah doe kankee kung!" Jabba turned back to Threepio and spoke again and the droid turned once more to translate.

"Jabba offers a sum of thirty-five," Threepio said, forgetting Jabba's title. "And I do suggest you take it."

The bounty hunter responded and a small click was heard as he pushed the safety back in place. The tension in the air released as people started to come out of their hiding spots.

"He agrees!" Threepio cried out happily. Two gamorreans guards walked out of their positions and grabbed Chewie roughly, yanking him away. The wookiee gave a mournful cry at the rough handling. The music resumed and the bounty hunter glanced over at Boba Fett, who was still in the corner. The Madalorian tipped his masked head slightly in approval. The plan was in action.

Mara watched carefully at the scene before her. She focused on the various players they had positioned around the room: Lando in the corner where Chewie had been taken off, Leia in the Bounty hunter's costume standing near Boba Fett, chatting quietly. Bib Fortuna, the pale Twi'lek hand of Jabba's walked past her, looking her up and down appreciatively. She swallowed a grimace and wished Luke was there with her right now. She could feel his presence just a few clicks away in Obi-Wan's home still, meditating. He'd warned her about the vile people that resided with Jabba, and she'd brushed him off. Now, she wished she'd listened a little more carefully.

Night fell, and the palace fell into slumber. Various occupants either off and sleeping somewhere more comfortable or passed out in the main chamber. Leia crept around the corner, still in her disguise, and glanced about the palace. She ran into the hanging chimes, her wide helmet catching them in her attempt at stealth.

Mara ducked around the corner and spotted Leia, hissing slightly to get Leia's attention.

"What are you doing?" she cried out in a hushed voice. Leia jumped slightly and back tracked to the other side of the hall.

"You're breaking cover," Leia warned. "Go back."

"You're trying to break him out now, aren't you?" Mara asked, realizing immediately what Leia was up to."

"No," Leia lied weakly. Even without the Force Mara could have caught the deception.

"If you screw this up you might never get him back," Mara said firmly. Leia pulled off the mask, her hair sticking up slightly.

"I have to, Mara," Leia said, her natural voice much more soothing. "He's trapped!"

"Leia, I can't let you do this," Mara shook her head. "Stick to the plan."

Leia glanced forlornly at the Carbonite slab on the wall, but nodded to Mara. "Alright."

"Good," the redhead said firmly. "C'mon, let's go hide out till morning."

The doors to Jabba's palace cranked open and light filtered around the corner. Bib Fortuna walked off briskly towards it, and muffled voices could be heard. A small thrill went through Mara as Luke's presence touched her, making sure she was all right. The pale twi'lek returned, followed by a dark robe. Bib Fortuna returned to his Master's platform, speaking quietly in to wake him up.

"Master, Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight."

"I told you not to admit him!" Jabba cried out in Huttese.

"Jabba," Luke said firmly. "I request audience with you, as I mentioned in the hologram three days ago."

Jabba growled out something and Threepio came hobbling back over, before turning to Luke.

"Master Luke, sir, so good to see you," Threepio started before Jabba's tail flicked out and banged against Threepio's metal body. "Oh, my, I apologize. The wonderful Jabba requests that you leave the premises immediately."

"I must work out a deal with you regarding Captain Solo's freedom," Luke replied. "Surely we can come to an agreement."

Jabba rumbled out an angry reply, and Threepio quickly translated. "Master Jabba says that he wishes to keep his decoration where it is as an example to those that cross him."

"I understand," Luke nodded. "Perhaps then I should request the returning of my droids. My gift to you was to seek your audience, which you have thus far denied."

Jabba boomed out a laugh, eliciting wary chuckles around the room.

"The illustrious Jabba says that you have no position here," Threepio translated. "He orders your leave or you will face his wrath."

Luke smiled, glancing back at Mara over Jabba's shoulder.

"_There is the Rancor Pit right under your feet," _she sent through the bond. _"If you move towards Han you'll be out of Jabba's power."_

Luke casually glanced towards the Carbonite slab on the wall and wandered over casually and ran his fingers along the cool metal.

"Jabba," Luke started. "I am willing to offer you a sum of one hundred thousand credits for Captain Solo. Take it, and you may keep the droids."

"Jedi Scum," Jabba hissed, thoroughly annoyed at Luke's escape of the power of the Rancor pit. "Captain Solo is mine. Guards!"

Two gamorrean guards abruptly came forward and attempted to grab Luke. He reached out a hand and they flew across the room and into the opposite wall. Boba Fett raised his blaster to point it at Luke and Leia countered, firing off a shot into the Mandalorian's abdomen between his armored plates. Fett fell in an unconscious slump to the floor and Leia quickly crossed the room, firing off a killing shot to Bib Fortuna, and then joining Mara behind Jabba.

"It's over, Hutt," Leia hissed, pulling off her helmet and tossing it to the side. "Your cruel days are over."

"Blasters can't harm me, Rebel Scum," Jabba laughed in accented basic. "You and your friends are dead."

A small twitter from across the room sounded and two lightsabers launched out of the roof of Artoo's dome. One went straight to Luke and the other curved around in the air and fell gracefully into Mara's hand.

"How about lightsabers, Jabba?" Mara asked, igniting the violet blade and holding it next to the Hutt's neck. Jabba swallowed thickly.

"What can I pay you with?" he asked out, carefully.

"Captain Solo," Leia said. "The droids, and your life."

"Leia?" Mara asked and Leia glanced up at the red head. Mara's hand was outstretched, the Lightsaber within it an offering. "You want to do the honors?"

Leia smiled. She grabbed the blade and held it on the other side of the Hutt's neck. "Good night, Hutt Scum," she whispered before slicing through the blubbery slug skin of the Hutt. Jabba made a slight gurgling noise before falling still. Leia sighed and glanced over at the slab on the wall, passing the lightsaber back to Mara.

Mara immediately leapt over the deceased Hutt and began slicing through the remainder of loyal guards and the bounty hunters that chose not to run. Leia passed Luke and then Lando had come up out of the prisoner area with Chewie.

Chewie glanced about and ran over with Leia to free Han. Luke spared a slight glance as the slab of Carbonite fell to the floor with a metallic thud. Mara sidled up next to him, covering him as they finished up the fight.

"Jabba gone?" he asked, still focusing in the Force on the coming blaster shots.

"Jabba's gone," she replied, blocking a bolt and sending it into the forehead of its owner.

The last guard fell to the floor, and the Palace was silent save for the humming of the Carbonite defreezing.

Luke and Mara bounced up the stairs just as Han fell forward into the arms of Chewie and placed carefully onto the floor.

"Relax," Leia called out. "Han, relax, you're freed of the Carbonite."

"Le-Le-Leia? I, I can't see," he stuttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Hibernation sickness," Lando supplied.

"Where am I?" Han asked, trying to look around and not seeing anything.

"Jabba's palace," Leia said. "Everything's okay though. We're going to get you out."

"Jabba's? Oh boy," Han said, his shaking starting to finally stop. "We need to go before he sees us."

"We took care of Jabba," Mara assured. "Don't worry about that."

"Red?" Han asked. "Who all is here?"

Chewie gave out a small growl before loping his arms around Han happily.

"Yeah, I missed you too pal," Han said, a shake still in his voice. "All of you are here?"

"Even Lando," Leia said. "He helped us get you out."

"I'm sure he did," Han growled out angrily.

"I'm sorry, Han," Lando said. "I really am. But I fought to get you back. I've been in this blasted palace as a guard for months now."

"Months!" Han asked in surprise. "How long was I frozen?"

"Almost a year," Luke said sadly. "It was the fastest we could get you, I swear. The Empire has had some heavy patrols around Tatooine for a while."

"A year?" Han asked. "I'll bet I missed a lot, didn't I?"

"Not that much," Leia sighed. "C'mon, let's get you back to the _Falcon_ and back to the fleet."

"Finally free of Carbonite and I can't even see to fly my own ship," he grumbled as Leia and Chewie helped him to his feet. "This just gets better and better."

Luke let out a slight chuckle at the return of Han's sarcasm. It was nice to hear it again.

* * *

><p><strong>Originally I was going to include the Pit of Carkoon as well but I decided against it while writing this. I just wanted to free Han and get back into the writing of this fic. So everything went down at JAbba's. Which I kinda like. It always bugged me that responsible Princess without a planet Leia would be so irresponsible as to free Han without a plan of escape. It just doesn't make sense that they'd have the foresight to see her becoming a slave. Unless Thrawn is secretly their planning commissioner I suppose.<strong>

**YES! Actually, another reason this took so long was because for two weeks while I worked on my AP homework and simultaneously avoided doing it, I read the Thrawn Trilogy. That actually kinda messed with my head for awhile because, (I know a few of you are reading it as well) I have a new fic up, A More Perfect Future, which is my long planned time-travel fic. In that fic I screwed up the timing orignally, and then I pushed the dating to right after RotJ because I wanted Luke and Leia closer in age to Padme and Anakin when they went backwards. So the prologue takes place at the Temple on Yavin... But Luke doesn't start the New Jedi Order until after the Thrawn Trilogy. And then looking back on this, and Mara isn't so full of rage whereas her character is defined by a harboring anger for Luke. Which I guess you can draw from the fact she willingly left Palpatine's grasp instead of Forcefully being yanked from it. I don't know. But I had to do alot of thinking and though I really didn't want to give this up since I was so close to the end, for awhile I contemplated it. **

**BUT I WON'T GIVE THIS UP! It's official, as I've told a few of you via PM. But honestly, the little story delay thing is like a common occurence at the start of every school year for me. I've deleted all my old Twilight fics, but they all died a cold hard death between the months of August and October. Mostly because I didn't update, so I lost drive, and then I felt so guilty I didn't want to face any readers (all two, lmao) after the break that I just deleted the story. Chicken, I know. **

**But I probably wouldn't have kept them around much longer anyways since they all embarrassed me. **

**Okay, long note almost over. Updates come as they may, but I have begun writing the next chapter (Which means nothing because I wrote to the beginning of Jabba's palace in July) so there is something for me to go off of. Right now, my main want in the writing world is leaning towards A More Perfect Future, which I would love for you to read but it's ultimately your choice, so those will probably be Head Honcho Numero Uno. Mostly because like this, it's almost finished, but I've only posted two chapters. Mostly because I had no internet for like two weeks. (The two weeks after I read Thrawn. Literally, my Dad shut if so I'd work on my homework. So my creative outlet was writing AMPF. About two chapters a day it seemed. Oh, and I beat Force Unleashed one finally and all the extra Sith Levels for it. But that's not the point.)**

**THE POINT IS THIS A/N IS FINALLY OVER.**

**LMAO**


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